


Schrödinger's Memories

by clockworkcuttlefish



Series: Schrödinger's Trilogy [1]
Category: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: Alternate Canon, F/M, Gen, Novelization, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-12
Updated: 2012-04-12
Packaged: 2017-11-18 15:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 66
Words: 230,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/562427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkcuttlefish/pseuds/clockworkcuttlefish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna Kyjjl is a smuggler with severe retrograde amnesia, a thing for a pilot wearing a disgustingly colored jacket, and a screw-the-rules-I'm-doing-what's-right attitude. Or at least that's what she thinks. Follows the story of KOTOR1 up to the beginning of the book Revan. First in the Schrödinger's Trilogy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Fall of Revan

Bastila swallowed hard, her breath coming in short waves. There was one small opening in her opponent's stance, and she took it. He fell at her feet – but not in time.

The figure they had come for stood framed in the window at the front of the bridge, hand extended. Their sole surviving Republic soldier collapsed to the deck, one hand still wrapped around his neck in death. Running feet behind her announced the regrouping of her companions.

The silent mask of Revan turned toward them. He made no move. Bastila swallowed.  _With Revan, that could mean anything. Revan is dangerous, Revan is the brains of the –_   _There is no emotion . . ._ "You cannot win, Revan." There was a hollow laugh from behind the mask. "Surrender and the Jedi will be merciful."

There was a pause, almost as if he was turning the idea over in his head. But his answer came quickly – a single red saber ignited in his hand.

The Jedi around her charged forward, trying to dog pile the Sith Lord. Bastila stood ready, lightsaber held in front of her. Vrook had warned her of this, of Revan's capabilities. She yelled at the other Jedi to fall back, but they fell even as she struggled to draw on the Force and heal them. And Revan's silent mask turned to her.

"This is your last chance, Revan."

There was silence. He took a quarter-step forward.

Something beeped wildly on a console nearby, and he half-turned to the window. Bastila dropped to the ground and covered her head as two green streaks powered for the bridge.

" _Malak_  . . ." he groaned, sounding – sad? Exasperated? She felt something fly up in the Force just before the explosion.

Bastila looked up when the debris stopped flying. Miraculously, the bridge wasn't destroyed – just heavily damaged. Revan lay, face-down, at the front of the bridge.

As warning bells rang and the ship dangerously listed, Bastila crawled towards the Sith's body.  _Mission to capture. Must make sure that . . . must know that he_. . . she reached him, taking a deep breath as her fingers gently latched onto the sides of the mask, undoing the buckles that held it in place. She carefully lifted it off – and gasped.

The face that met her was a woman, red hair carefully braided back, loose tendrils framing a gently shaped face. A long, jagged wound cut from her forehead to a little above the nape of her neck, blood turning the black cowl on her robes even darker.

What was more surprising was that she was alive. She wouldn't be for long.

Before she could think, she pulled out a knife and sliced down Revan's robes, pulling them open to the loose jumpsuit underneath. She pressed her hand against her forehead, pushing the will to live through her into Revan, feeling her stabilize – even if slightly. Ripping strips off the black robes, she wrapped them around the Sith's head then gently pulled her over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, leaving the robes piled on the bridge. She was surprisingly light – if she weighed more than fifty kilograms and was much taller than one and a half meters, Bastila was a Sith. And Bastila was certainly  _not_  a Sith.

Almost in hindsight, she grabbed the mask off the floor before sprinting past the bodies of her comrades and Revan's bridge crew, slamming her hand on the controls for the bridge doors as she ran for her ship.

Seconds later, Malak fired again. The bridge exploded.

#

Bastila wasn't sure why she had been called there.

One more  _private_  area of the Temple medical wing had been sealed off, allowing only Council members inside. And she was the only person (apart from the Council) in the entire galaxy that knew why.

Over the past week, her name had been scurrying around the holonet as a hero, and Revan as dead at her hand. She hadn't worried about correcting them, and neither had the Jedi Council. The news that the former Sith Lord still lived – kind of – would pose too many problems for the Order.

She walked into the room, the eerie blue light of the kolto tank reflecting on the walls. Revan hadn't been removed yet. Scars of varying ages traced her skin, including several that bore the telltale cauterization of lightsabers – some of which were still deep black from the duel on her flagship. The Council stood facing the tank in a crescent, hardly noting her entrance.

"— proposition, Vandar!" the lightest-blonde Atris protested. "You cannot  _seriously_  believe that we can just –"

The small green Master held up his hand. "Patience, Atris. You have already been overruled by the Council."

Atris quieted, but her frown indicated her continued sulk. "Then what do we do?"

Vandar looked up at the woman floating in the tank in front of them. "It will be a long and tedious process, but we must seal whatever mem—ah, Padawan Bastila."

"Masters, you summoned me?" Bastila clasped her hands behind her back as they turned.

"There has been a development," Master Kavar said. "Master Vandar and I have developed a . . .  _strategy_  to use your successful capture of Revan to the advantage of the Jedi, and the Republic."

"There are ways," Zhar added, violet hand resting on the tank. "Ways to construct an identity through the Force."

"You plan to rebuild Revan's identity?"

"No!" The Council said, almost in union. Vandar softened his tone. "No, Bastila. Revan is much too dangerous. The plan is to construct a new identity for her – and to use the bond that has developed between you to draw out the identity of the Sith superweapon."

Bastila bit her lip, studying the nearly-dead woman across from her. The past week had been difficult, with Revan's consciousness weighing on her like a tedious link, flashes of memory transferred to her at random. Memories she couldn't begin to understand. And . . . what were the ethical implications of reprogramming? It was a question she wasted no time in asking.

"We cannot be bothered by  _ethics_ ," Atris retorted. Vandar held up his hand again.

"Revan is too dangerous," he repeated. "Were Revan to return, the galaxy may never recover."

Bastila moved her eyes back to the tank. "Then what must be done?"

"It will take . . . time," Kavar said. "We have a Jedi who has done extensive research on this topic, and when assisted by Master Dorak, Master Atris, and Master Vandar, he should be able to create a new identity for her."

Zhar stepped forward, gently resting a hand on Bastila's shoulder. "Because of your new bond with her,  _you_  must associate with her. We will arrange a scouting mission with the Republic, and you will be placed in command."

"Me?"

"You must use Revan's memories to extract knowledge of the Sith superweapon. That is your primary order – how it arrives is for the Force to decide." Zhar stepped back. "Clear all thoughts of Revan from your mind. When you next see her, you must know that she will have a different name . . . and a different purpose."

#

_It was the stench of kolto – a scent she knew well. But she couldn't smell it – yes, there was the breathing mask. So it was the_ feel _of kolto – a feeling she knew well._

_It was demeaning to be shrunk to a person who could neither move their own limbs nor come up with proper tactile/olfactory distinctions, especially when said person had just held the galaxy by the throat._

_The thwack she'd gotten on her head still stung – Force-cursed Malak, jumping the gun as always. And through the connection that had unexpectedly developed with the Council's precious Padawan, what little sense she still had understood what they were planning on doing._

_It was not exactly what she had planned on. But it was no matter. It was merely time to adjust the strategy._

_She carefully bundled herself up, like she had whenever the Council had poked around in her head, shoving her memories deep into herself. Thank the Force she'd reacted in time to shield herself from Malak's blast or her injuries would have been far worse, as would the destruction of her memories._

_Memories of her family, her friends, her . . . trip . . . were shoved deep, locked down. They were mostly irrelevant. She layered the rest – the Star Forge, the Maps were placed out of reach of the Council, but prepared to return when necessary, her gambit shoved deeper underneath them. The Mandalorian Wars served as a buffer between the two._

_And on the surface with the Maps and the Forge remained the knowledge of her identity, prepared to return whenever triggered; and before that, knowledge of her training, poised to unlock immediately. The Jedi would send her after the Maps and the Forge – Malak still had time to remember their plan, if he had not gone entirely insane with power. They were to leave enough to save, to strengthen, to fortify . . . to retaliate . . ._

_The kolto started to drain, something she recognized by the way her body unconsciously slumped with the lowering liquid. With a brief, mental sigh, Revan sucked herself inward, to the deepest recesses of her memory, where even an intensive probe would not find her._

_And hopefully the Force would be merciful, and her reprogramming wouldn't distract the game for too long._

_Someone set her down on a bed. A cold hand pressed at her head, and a telltale steel wall started to weave up in her mind. Revan swore, flying back to the surface. The fools would hide everything behind the damn wall they were putting up – they_ would _go the whole way with this stupid thing, after all. Damn! She pushed her surface memories – stopping at the Maps, the Forge, her training – around the wall before it sealed her off._

_They would not be able to reprogram her personality, her skills – only her memories. And the one thing Revan knew was herself. She knew she would be devastated to learn of her identity, and forced herself to remember the regret she felt as she shut herself from existence, leaving it at the top so her new self would some day find it again._

#

Commander Carth Onasi tapped his foot, straightening his flight jacket.

_Damn Jedi._

The  _Endar Spire_  was the closest thing the Republic had come to in terms of a scouting mission. Taris had been the most recent world to fall to the Sith . . . and then Revan was killed. So instead of scouting out Taris, to see if it was a proper time to try and retake the planet, they were going to Manaan. And the Jedi had insisted on taking control of the mission for some Galaxy-knew-why reason and for some equally unknown reason, Dodonna had agreed. So now, the damn Jedi were taking over the ship, and the commander of the mission – Carth glanced down at his datapad for her name –  _and_  the soldier they'd requested transferred were late.

The  _Spire_ 's captain seemed unmoved, at least. A shuttle zipped over their heads, and Carth glared at it. They could be back on the stupid ship by now.

He looked back down at the datapad, studying the two names he wanted.

The first was the Jedi in charge – Bastila Shan. Carth frowned. She was young, still a Padawan. And if he wasn't mistaken . . . He looked closer at the datapad. Yes, she was the leader of the team that had killed Revan. He scratched the back of his neck. Maybe the Jedi knew something they didn't.

Maybe this was his chance to find Saul.

He moved to the next file. A young-looking, attractive woman stared drowsily up at him with gray-hazel eyes. A shock of bright red hair had fallen over the left side of her forehead. He moved to her information.

_Anna Kyjjl, 25, Human. Security Consultant._ So she was a bodyguard or something? Carth snorted, making the captain jump. Like a Jedi really needed a bodyguard.

"Sir?"

Carth waved him off, looking back at her information. _Homeworld: Deralia._ Deralia? Where the hell was that?

The captain straightened next to him, and Carth looked up. The Jedi he recognized from the datapad was hurrying toward them, three other Jedi and one non-Jedi following her. She drew to a halt. "Captain, I apologize for our delay. The Council—"

"It's okay, Mistress Jedi," the captain said, saluting. "Our mission has no specific timetable."

"Only the timetable of stopping Malak," she said, eyes settling on Carth. "Commander Onasi. We are fortunate to have your expertise on this mission." She motioned to the other Jedi, introducing Carth and the  _Spire_ 's captain to them in turn. Her hand finally settled on the redhead's shoulder, and she looked up, meeting Carth's eyes. "And this is Anna Kyjjl. The Council asked for her to be transferred to this ship as part of our party. She is an expert in . . . security and defense," Bastila finished with a slight frown.

"Hi." Anna gave a half-hearted wave. She was either confused or sulking. Or both.

"We really should be getting to the ship. The sooner we leave, the sooner our mission to Taris can be underway."

Carth closed and bolted the shuttle door behind him. The only seat left inside was next to the mystery soldier, who was staring blankly at the seat in front of her. He strapped in, glancing over at her. Her hair had shifted, and he thought he could see something white underneath the part.

"I didn't catch your name," she said immediately. Carth frowned. She seemed disoriented.

"Carth. Carth Onasi." He caught Bastila frowning at them from across the way.

"Oh. Yeah." She nodded. "Commander, right? Did a lot during the Mandalorian Wars?"

Yep. Bastila was  _really_  glaring now. Anna seemed to have noticed. "Yeah."

"Tough times."

She returned her eyes to the seat in front of her, and Carth rubbed his forehead as the shuttle prepared to dock with the  _Spire_. Hopefully this would be a short mission. He needed a break.

_Like you'd take one, Onasi_.

#

Carth walked onto the bridge, caffa in his hands. The older he got, the worse mornings were. Vicious cycles.

"Really, we should be in a hyperspace route over here," an unfortunately familiar female voice was saying.

"But this is the main route." Carth joined the captain and what's-her-name by the navicomputer.

"Yes, and since it's the main route, the Sith know about it." He didn't miss her ever-so-subtle eye roll. "Seriously. One good Interdictor could pull this ship out of hyperspace like that." She snapped.

"As soon as we're able, we'll pull out of hyperspace and change lanes," the captain said. Carth groaned, and he snapped to attention. Kyjjl didn't bother.

"Why are we changing lanes?"

"You deaf, Commander? There's a lane next to this one – leads to the same place – but it's not as traveled and . . . well, it's not as well known."

Carth narrowed his eyes. "So how do you know about it? That's an Exchange route."

She glared, but seemed shocked for a second. "You know what? I'm going to go check on my charges, because I'm here to do a _job_." She turned and, braid swinging, strode off the bridge.

"You'd think she was a general with the way she trots around here," the captain muttered. "But she makes sense, Commander."

"As soon as it's safe to, follow her recommendation."

"Yes, sir."

Carth rubbed his forehead. The Jedi had all but taken over the ship – go figure – and their consultant was no better.

_Damn Jedi._


	2. Chapter 2

Anna groaned, grasping at one of the beds to pull herself back up.

 _Damn morons attack the –_   _where_ am _I_  –?

She fumbled around in a footlocker near her, finally coming up with a datapad. She flicked it on.

_Anna Kyjjl, Consultant_

_Endar Spire._

Oh yeah, that was a Hammerhead-class ship, wasn't it? Hyperworks? Something like that –

If this was a drill she was going to  _kill_  someone . . . once she could see straight, of course.

And if this wasn't a drill, it meant that damn stubborn-as-hell Onasi hadn't followed her recommendations.

She frowned, trying to put a face to the name. What did he look like again? And why did she somehow remember his name, but couldn't seem to remember her own?

The door shot open, and she spun from the locker with her blaster. The older man who'd burst in stopped, hands raised.

"Whoa, Anna. It's me, Trask."

She squinted. "Who?"

He skimmed over her, eyes resting on the blood coating the side of her head. "Sithspit. Where'd you get that?"

Anna grimaced, probing the wound with a finger. "Fell out of bed."

"You good enough to travel?"

"Maybe. What the hell's going on?"

"We're being boarded! Bastila should be on the bridge, and we have to –"

"Bastila. Jedi, about one-seven, dark hair? Wears skin-tight jumpsuits?"

"That's the one. But – but you're part of her party, aren't you? Consultant?" Trask was looking more worried by the second.

Anna grimaced again, pulling herself up on the bed and reaching for her vibros. "Security, if you want to call it that."

Trask rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Smuggling would make you rather knowledgeable."

"Yes, well, if we're being boarded then I'm doing my job really well." Anna pulled on her jacket and grabbed a brown messenger-type bag that rested next to her bed, pulling it over her head. She staggered slightly, and Trask caught her. "Speaking of being boarded – I'm really hoping that we're being boarded by gizka or tachs, right?"

He grimaced, steadying her. "No, unfortunately. Sith."

The door slid open, and before he could turn she'd shot the offending Sith square in the chest. "Like that one?"

"What was that?"

"Someone has to save our skins." Anna ruffled in her bag and pulled out a single-use kolto-soaked bandage, pressing it against her head. "That should hold me over until we hit the bridge. Come on."

"You sure?"

"Well, if they're Sith, they're looking for Bastila. And if they're looking for Bastila, that means that as soon as they find her, the rest of us are fried." He stared at her. "What? Just because I have a little cut on my head doesn't mean I can't put two and two together to get five."

"Two and two come out to four."

"Trask, I'd love to stand around and argue math with you, but we've got work to do. This'll have to wait."

They hurried down the hall, Anna occasionally grabbing at the wall to remain upright. Just a few feet outside the next door, something chirped at her belt. Without waiting, Trask grabbed it.

:: _Is this Kyjjl?_ :: A voice asked.

"No, it's Trask, sir. Trask Ulgo. I've got her with me."

:: _I figured, Trask. You need to get her to the bridge. Bastila's about to throw a tantrum if she doesn't get up here soon._ ::

:: _I am not going to –_ ::

"How's it look?"

:: _Not good. Another few minutes and I'm pushing the crew members I've got left into escape pods, including Bastila_.:: There was some arguing on the other end. :: _Just get Kyjjl up here before she explodes, or starts throwing things, or whatever else she's wont to do_.::

"Who was that?" Anna asked as Trask handed her back her comm.

"Carth Onasi. He's on board as an adviser, like you. Easily one of the Republic's best soldiers."

Anna thought for a second, again struggling to connect his name to a face. "About a head-and-a-half taller than me, dark hair, runs around the mess hall in a jacket the color of rancor vomit?"

Trask chuckled. "That's the one. Come on. If he says it's bad, it's  _bad_."

After a couple of short skirmishes with a few Sith, they ran up to a full-fledged assault between six Sith and a grand total of four –  _no, three_ – Republic soldiers. Anna did the first thing she thought of to even the odds.

She threw her vibro through a Sith.

And, for some reason that made absolutely  _no_  sense at all, was surprised when it didn't come back.

"What was that for?" Trask hissed as the Sith were alerted to their presence.

"I – I honestly have  _no_  idea," she admitted, swinging up her blaster and firing.

Trask looked away for a second, struggling to take out the Sith trying to dog-pile him. After a few well-placed kicks, several dodges, and one of the Sith near-missing his head, he finally turned back to his companion.

Who was gone.

Feet away, she was hand-to-handing – with her bare hands – a Sith whose blaster had long been knocked aside. And, whether because she was a full two heads shorter than said Sith or just far less strong, she was currently plastered against one of the walls while he was trying to strangle her.

Trask sprinted over, right before Anna brought her knee up into a soft, more-padding-than-armor area on her attacker's stomach. As he loosened his grip, a quick knife-hand to his neck sent him to the side, and she elbowed him in his face with a loud  _crack_ for good measure. He collapsed.

"What the hell?" Trask yelled as she rubbed her elbow where it'd hit his helmet. "He was five times bigger than you!"

"So's a nerf." Anna was nursing one of her arms, which was slowly trickling with blood. "Doesn't mean I can't take one on."

"You're  _insane_ , and you're going to get yourself killed."

"I'm a smuggler. I'm supposed to be insane."

Trask rolled his eyes, grabbing her uninjured arm. "Fine. Come on, then."

They sprinted their way to the bridge, just around the corner. It was deserted.

"They must have hit the escape pods," Anna said, looking around and nudging a dead Sith.

"Thank you. I never would have guessed."

"Oh. I'm rubbing off on you."

He shook his head, making his way over bodies to the doors that led to the starboard side of the ship. "Come on. We've got to get to those pods."

He palmed open the door, and they stepped through. Lightsabers rang out, and they darted through just in time to watch as a young, dark-haired Jedi collapsed with a red lightsaber through her heart.

"Well," Anna said off-handedly. "There's one less I'm supposed to be looking out for."

The Sith turned to them, silvery torso armor glinting in the fluorescent lights. "More Republic scum," he muttered, just loud enough for the duo to hear. "And . . . oh?" His voice rose. "Another Jedi? Without her lightsaber?"

"Unless you're hiding something, Trask . . ." Anna started. Trask shook his head.

"I was talking to you." He studied her. "Come with me, and we can remedy your lack of training."

"I prefer my lack of training, actually." Anna lifted her blaster, prepared to fire at the panel and close him in. He raised his hand, and the weapon flew out of hers. "Oh." She stared after the weapon in shock, hand still outheld.

"Go on!" Trask pushed her into the door to the starboard escape pods. "I'll hold him off!"

"What? You can't expect to –"

"Damn it, go on!" Trask palmed the door open, pushed her through, and closed it.

On the other side, Anna stared at the cold steel for several seconds before snapping out of her reverie.

_Never had anyone die for me before._

_I don't think._

_Wow, how bad's this memory loss?_

Anna turned and hurried for the next door as her comm beeped. "Go for Kyjjl."

:: _You're still alive, good._ ::

"What do you mean?"

:: _I'm tracking you through the ship's life support systems. I –_ :: The door behind her started to open. She took her vibro and sliced off the panel, locking it.:: _What was that?_ ::

"I was about to have a visitor."

:: _Well, get over here. ASAP. Bastila's pod's away, so it's just us three –_ ::

Anna swallowed. "Trask's dead. You're probably seeing the ex-Jedi that killed him on the system."

Onasi was silent. :: _Damn. Okay._ You _get here then. I don't want to have Bastila flip when we rendezvous on Taris_.::

"I'm working on it."

She hurried into the next room, cutting down the two Sith inside. Her comm beeped as the last one hit the ground.

:: _Not to keep bothering you, but there's six or seven Sith next door to you. Plan accordingly_.::

"I'll get it taken care of, don't worry." She turned it off. "Stop distracting me, Onasi."

Anna broke into the computer after eyeing the assault droid nearby. But with how bad her arm hurt and the incessant pounding in her temple, she figured trying to fight off six or so Sith – even with a droid – would be unwise.

Instead she settled for the unsatisfying sizzle, screams, and ensuing scent of scorched flesh when she opened the door.

With a scowl and a desire to slice out anything related to her olfactory sense, she picked her way through smoking bodies and palmed open the next door. A dark haired man in a hideously orange jacket spun, blaster in hand. She raised her vibros.

"Anna." He lowered the gun.

"Aaaand you must be Onasi," she said, sheathing her vibroblades. He stared at her.

"Yes, we met –" He glanced over the matted blood on the side of her head. "What happened?"

"I fell out of bed."

A look of exasperation crossed his face. "Great. Now come on. As soon as the Sith realize Bastila's off the ship—"

"They'll blast us into space dust." Anna put her hands on her hips. "Now, you're sure no one else is alive?"

With a further exasperated sigh, Carth nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

He watched as she wavered slightly on her feet. Adrenaline must have been the only thing keeping her standing. "Well, what if the life support systems –"

They didn't have time for this.

Carth stepped forward and lifted her up by the waist, dragging her into the pod. "I just asked a simple question!" she snapped as he dropped her on the seat before closing the door.

"And I decided not to answer." He squeezed onto the seat with her and strapped them both in.

"You know, most men at least offer a girl dinner," she muttered sulkily as he hit the switch and they rocketed away from the ship. His jacket, from up close, was an even  _more_  hideous color of orange, but it at least smelled nice. But anything would smell nice, after wandering through a room with several fried corpses.

"Yeah, well, I'll take you out when we land," he retorted, frowning as he caught a better glance at the side of her head. It looked bad, even for a head wound.

"Good. I'm hungry."

"I get the feeling you're –" A large red light started flashing on the controls, and Carth grabbed for them.

"What's that mean?" Anna asked flatly.

"We're coming in for the landing too fast. We aren't going to be able to even up in time – shit –"

Anna squeezed her eyes shut, pretty sure she wasn't going to like the ensuing landing.


	3. Chapter 3

Carth popped open the smoking escape hatch to the sun of the Tarisian Upper City.

He'd managed to crash the pod smack in the middle of a crowded walkway, sending citizens running and screaming, and providing a great distraction. He looked down at the woman in his arms, her bleeding exaggerated by the crash. There had to be somewhere they could crash – no pun intended – until she healed up, and there  _had_  to be a doctor –

Someone walking by – odd, since everyone else was running – frantically motioned to an open door just to the left of their crashed pod. Carth nodded and sprinted for it, hoping to whatever powers were listening that he wasn't just going to send the Sith after them later.

He found an abandoned apartment just to the left, door half-open with a sparking panel. He ducked through it and set her down gently on one of the beds inside, pulling the panel off to quickly rewire and fix the door. Once it was closed, he turned back to her.

A quick visit to the 'fresher got him a bowl and a single, lost towel, and he promptly began wiping blood away from the wound. It surprised him to see a blood-soaked bandage already covering it.

"What the hell did you  _do_?" he muttered, gently unwrapping it. Underneath, with a little bit of extra rubbing from the already blood-soaked towel, he found a long, jagged wound. He frowned. That didn't make any sense. Did she get hit on the side of her head by a vibro or something?

He rummaged through his pockets, producing a kolto syringe, and then through her bag, where he managed to find another bandage. Grimacing – he'd never been a fan of needles, despite their usefulness – he gently injected her with the kolto and then pressed the bandage to her head.

"Hope this does it," he said with a frown, looking back over his work. "I really should find a doctor, but I don't . . ."

Carth watched her for a while, leaving once to make sure they could stay in the apartment and to pay the fifty-cred month's rent ( _frakking rip-off_ ), and get informed about a doctor just over to the northeast who might be able to help him.

So, hoping that leaving her to her defenses wouldn't be too disastrous, he quickly wandered his way through the street outside, now crowded with onlookers and Sith soldiers investigating the wreck, to find this doctor the landlord had mentioned. It didn't take him long to find the clinic, and to walk in through the open door.

"Can I help you?" A dark-complexioned man asked from the other side of the room, quickly coming towards him.

"Are you Zelka Forn?" Carth asked.

The man nodded. "I am. I run this clinic. Why?"

"I was told you might be able to help me out. There's an . . .  _acquaintance_  of mine–"

"If you bring him here –"

"Uh, her, and bringing her here is the problem." Carth bit his lip for a second, trying to figure out the best way to explain his predicament. "She, uh, we were heading for the cantina when the p – escape pod crashed into the walkway, and she was hit by a piece of –"

"Where was she hit?" Zelka stepped away, seemingly gathering up some supplies.

"It's a head wound, which is why I don't want to bring her here – I've already moved her enough."

"Did you head into the South Apartments?"

"Yeah. It was the closest place –"

Zelka returned, a black bag in hand. "Gurney, I'm making a call. Watch the clinic."

The squirrely looking man by the door nodded. "I'll call you if anyone comes in."

"Lead the way . . ." He paused. "I don't believe I got your name, sir."

"My name? I'm, uh, Dre. Dre VanMeer."

Zelka studied him with a dubious look, and Carth swore silently. He'd never been a good liar. "Sure you are, Mr. VanMeer."

Carth silently walked back to the apartment with him, skirting the crowd around the escape pod. "She's right through here," Carth said, palming open the door. Zelka ducked through as it caught on something in the mechanism. "I'll have to fix that."

Zelka had already reached the bed he'd set Anna down on, pulling off his carefully applied bandage. "The pod landed over an hour ago?"

"I believe so."

Zelka bit the inside of his lip. "She's been unconscious the entire time?"

"As far as I know. She hasn't moved, at least."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "If this wasn't such a bad injury – but that's . . ." he sighed. "What I really need to do is a scan on her to make sure there isn't any brain damage. The wound itself is bad enough to cause it . . . and if she's been out this long . . ." He turned back to Carth, reapplying a clean bandage. "We need to get her to the clinic. I can't care for her here."

"I – I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Carth stuttered. Zelka crossed his arms.

"She wasn't  _hit_  by debris, was she?"

Carth sighed, giving up. "No." Zelka waited for a second, as if waiting for him to elaborate. He shook his head. He wasn't about to endanger both of them, even if Zelka seemed trustworthy. But the doctor seemed to figure it out anyway.

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I have no love of the Sith." Zelka looked down at Anna, then back at Carth. "Do you think you can safely get her to the clinic?"

"I – I might be able to carry her without jarring her too much."

"At this point it might not even matter. Come on."

Carth gently lifted the still-unconscious woman into his arms and followed Zelka out the door, hoping the medic would have a better explanation for the current situation than he did if they got stopped.

They managed to make it back to the clinic without incident, and Zelka motioned for Carth to set Anna on a central exam table. Gurney closed the door. "Now, let's see this better." Zelka turned on the light above the table, bathing Anna's slack face in eerie shadows as he tilted her head to the side and removed the bandage again. "Now, did this happen in the crash?"

"Before we got into the pod she had some sort of wound in the same spot. I don't know how it happened."

Zelka nodded. "It's just . . . strange. Do you know where she got the previous wound?"

Carth shook his head. "I don't know much about her before she was transferred onto the ship, to be honest."

"I wouldn't expect you to." Zelka bandaged the wound tightly, then moved some sort of elevated paddle from one end of the exam table to over Anna's head. "Let's see what the scan says. Hopefully it isn't second impact syndrome."

"Would you be able to do anything?"

"Apart from go through her pockets and look for loose credits?" Zelka shook his head.

Carth watched, rather in fascination, as an image of what he could only assume was Anna's brain appeared on a screen near the exam table. "There it is."

"There  _what_  is?"

"I'm not sure." Zelka motioned to an area on the scan. "That doesn't usually look like that."

"What does it usually look like?" Zelka glared at him, and Carth fell silent.

"It –This area," he motioned again. "Seems to be linked mostly to long-term and some short-term memory functions. But I've never seen it . . . almost  _augmented_  like this. Nerve tissue –  _brain_  tissue – doesn't regenerate.  _Not_  like this, at least."

"What do you think could have caused it?"

Zelka shrugged. "Some Jedi have advanced healing powers that may be able to repair brain structures, and I would assume that the Sith have some who possess similar capabilities. Apart from that, I do not believe there is another group with the technology to do so." Carth chewed on his lip, staring down at the unconscious woman on the table. "You suspect something?"

"I might," Carth muttered. "But I might be wrong."

Something in the back of his head thought he wasn't.

#

_Where am I?_

Her eyes shot open. She didn't recognize the room she was in.

Who _the hell am I?_

She started to sit up, a low groan escaping her lips.

"Are you okay?"

Before she thought about it, she grabbed for the man's blaster and leveled it at his face. "Who are you?"

The dark-haired man stepped back, hands slightly raised. "Whoa. Anna. It's okay."

"I believe I asked for your name." Her hand wavered. Holding it up was difficult.  _Anna. I guess that's me?_

The man looked incredibly confused. "Carth. Carth Onasi. Can . . . can I get my blaster back?"

She glared at him, but didn't move the blaster. "Republic or Sith?"

"If I was a Sith, I would have shot you by now."

Anna paused. "Good call." She flipped the blaster and handed it back to him. He put it back on his belt, and she struggled to sit up. He helped her. "Where am I?"

"Taris. What do you remember?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. Remembering was becoming really,  _really_  painful. "I remember . . ." She bit her lip. "Um . . . We were on a ship, right? The  _Endar Spire_?" Things were starting to come back to her.  _Kyjjl. That's the other part._ "I-I . . . I don't remember almost anything. At all."

There was another long silence. Anna finally spoke again, rubbing her forehead. "So what happened?"

"We got attacked over Taris – where we are now. You fought your way to the escape pods just in time – the ship blew right after we cleared it." Carth sighed. "I – I guess the force of the explosion propelled the ship down to the surface, which threw off our approach vector and meant I couldn't slow us down for impact. Luckily I pulled you into this apartment before the Sith showed up, and the doctor from the clinic nearby took a look at you."

"Oh. Well. I guess I owe you my life then. Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, I'm going to need your help."

Anna grimaced. "I'm assuming that this has something to do with the fact that the term 'Sith' was used in your last statement?"

"The planet's under a quarantine. They're looking for Bastila. Fortunately –" Carth fastened  _that_  jacket. Anna was secretly hoping it'd been destroyed in the crash. It was one of the few things she remembered. "That means they won't be looking for us, which gives us a little more mobility than she would have."

"Bastila – she's that Jedi girl, right?"

"Yeah. I shoved her into an escape pod not long before you got there. You were part of her team, remember?"

Anna frowned. "Not really." She could feel Carth's searching eyes on her.  _Man's more paranoid than a nerf. Wonder why_? "Any idea where to start looking?"

"A number of escape pods crashed in the Undercity. I'd say that there would be the best place."

"Good." Anna reached for a jacket she found conveniently placed nearby. "How long have I been out?"

"A little less than a week, now."

"That explains why I'm starving."

Carth rolled his eyes. "Strangely, I owe you dinner."

"How did that come about?"

"Conversation in the escape pod. Come on. There's a cantina not too far away, if you feel okay to travel."

"Hon, I'm like a Wookiee. If there's food involved, I'm well enough to travel."

"I'll keep that in mind, sister."

Anna started to get dressed as Carth installed new energy cells into his blasters. The silence was finally too deafening. "So, Onasi."

"Carth is fine."

"Okay, Carth. Since there's a quarantine, and we're gonna be stuck here for a while . . . I want to know some more about you."

Carth shot upright, badly-concealed surprise shooting across his face. "Me?"

"Did I stutter, flyboy?"

 _Kriff_ , she was so bloody irreverent. Carth glared at her, but it quickly softened. She probably meant well.

He muttered something about being a star-pilot in the Mandalorian wars and hating the Sith and how the Sith killed senselessly – and then Telos fell out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"My homeworld was one of the first that fell to Revan's fleet. He bombed it into submission, and there wasn't a damn thing the Republic could do to stop it!"

Carth snapped his mouth shut, looking anywhere but at his companion. She had stopped lacing up her boots, and her eyes were piercing him like a pair of blasters. He silently swore.  _Galaxy-damned mouth of mine_ —

Meanwhile, Anna stared at him before squinting slightly and returning to her boot. She looked up to find him staring at her. "What?"

"I don't know. Usually people say . . . something." Carth wasn't going to lie, but it was marginally refreshing to not hear the typical socially-acceptable phrases relating to losing an entire planet.

Anna shrugged irreverently, tying a lace. "It wasn't your fault, Carth," she said finally.

"I never said it was."

"Sounded like it," she murmured.

"I did everything I could to stop it. It doesn't mean I failed them. I – I didn't." Carth's voice was level.

He winced as Anna's eyes settled back on his face. They shimmered with some shock from his outburst and a little bit of discomfort at how to respond, and one eyebrow was cocked in confusion. She finally swallowed, pulling her hair back into a quick bun.

"I . . . I, uh, well," she said finally. "I say we put a quashing on that awkward conversation and move on."

"I agree."

She stood, stretching, and grabbed her vibroswords. "About that dinner you owe me?"

"I'm taking you over to Forn first. I want him to check your head." At her glare, he shrugged. "People want to kill us. I'm not going  _anywhere_  until I know you're able to protect yourself."


	4. Chapter 4

A skirmish in the hallway, several suggestive cracks about his landing skills, and a visit to Zelka later found them seated in the cantina with Anna happily munching on some mysterious, unidentified creature on her plate and Carth scanning the room around them with one hand carefully on his blaster. One of Anna's vibroswords was propped up in the booth next to her, and the other was still sheathed on her back. Taris was a rough place – even the upper-class walked around armed.

She pushed her plate away. "That wasn't  _the_  most disgusting thing I've ever eaten . . . I think." She leaned back on the bench, linking her fingers together behind her head. "Well."

He watched as her eyes slid around the cantina again, a path they took every so often as she reassured herself that nothing had moved out of place.

"What did Zelka tell you?"

She shrugged. "There's a chance my memories will come back. With retrograde amnesia – which this kind of sort of isn't – they may come back slowly, quickly, or not at all. He did say this was the strangest case he'd ever seen, which is terrifying." She sighed. "He's a good man."

Carth thought back to the soldiers they'd inadvertently stumbled across. "Yeah. He is."

"Anyway," Anna continued. "What now?"

Carth studied her. She stared back. "I have a couple of questions."

"Sure." She glanced around the cantina again as they leaned on the table, and Carth lowered his voice.

"The  _Spire_  . . . what happened on it?"

She shook her head. "I woke up with my head wrapped around the other bunk. I don't know."

Carth sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Do you remember why you were on the ship?"

"Haven't we been over that whole amnesia thing? I was security for the Jedi – it was on my datapad, and that's all I know."

"What did you do  _before_  the mission?"

She thought. "Well, the only logical thing a person with my various random skills would do – smuggling, I suppose."

Carth raised an eyebrow. "'Various random skills?'"

"Yeah. I'm good with a computer, and I can slice a door – not all the time, I never really did get the hang of it – and I've got paranoia that would make  _you_  look normal."

"What's that sup—I'm not paranoid!" Cue Anna's suspicious face. Carth frowned. "Okay, maybe I'm a  _little_  paranoid. Just a little."

"Yeah. Right. So what do we do about this one-seven brunette we're hunting down?" She knit her brow as Carth stared at her. "I understand we're paranoid, therefore I'm not going to run around  _announcing_  any names, titles, or Orders that may get us killed."

Carth half-shrugged. She was frustrating, but made sense. "I did some scouting while you were out. Most of the pods landed in the Undercity, so that's where we need to get to. Problem is, the elevator's guarded by the Sith, and they control access." A conversation at the bar caught her attention, and she half turned. "So unless we can find proper access papers _or_  some uniforms, we can't get down into the Lower City, and then into the Undercity. Also heard that the Lower City's crawling with gangs, and the Undercity's got these mutants – rakghouls or something. I don't know. But we'll need to be . . . drunk . . . and visit the Ithorian brothel in the Lower City – are you paying attention?"

"Didn't realize you had a thing for Ithorians," Anna retorted. Carth sighed. Of course she'd been paying attention. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Shouts came from a corner of the cantina, and Anna grabbed her sword and hurried off. Carth tried to grab for her arm, finally sufficing for running after her. He was going to kill her.

"Onasi!" she hissed as he caught up with her, peering into one of the cantina's off-rooms. "There's a dueling ring in here."

"And?"

She turned to him. "We need the creds. How many do you have on you?"

"Um . . . maybe a hundred-fifty now that I've paid the rent on that apartment."

"So I've got probably three-hundred . . ." her voice trailed off. "Let's do it!"

"Kyjjl, don't you  _dare_  –" She half-bounded into the room. Carth groaned.

#

Carth sat on the edge of the ring, fidgeting in his seat.

He was going to start pulling rank, and start pulling rank fast. Not that he thought it would help – he remembered from the _Endar Spire_  that she was  _anything_  if reverent towards structured, hierarchical systems.

He was fine with the dueling ring. Hell, they needed the credits. But she'd insisted on jumping out there  _immediately_. You'd think that being unconscious for several days would have made her relax. But no, here she was, going on her  _second_  duel.

Her reasoning had been sound – they were alive, they still needed the credits, she could beat this guy as easily as the first (which, if he recalled, had involved the phrase "in two seconds, on one leg and with both hands strapped behind my back and holding a gizka"). He twitched slightly as several off-duty Sith slid into the seats next to him, chattering about the upcoming duel.

The crowd hushed as Anna stepped into one side of the ring with a slight wave and broad smile that lit up her entire face. He shook his head. If anything, she was a show-woman.

"Ladies and gentlemen, draw your eyes to the center ring!" The announcer shouted in a voice Carth felt he would grow sick of quickly. "We have a very special presentation in store for you: In this corner, one of the greats; a man so tough even a disfiguring injury couldn't end his career. I give you Gerlon Two-Fingers!" There was cheering from one section of the crowd. "And in the other corner, a relative newcomer to the Taris dueling scene. Emerging from the shadows with no history, no past and no name . . . the Mysterious Stranger!"

Anna waved as the section of the crowd behind him cheered. Carth couldn't help but wonder if it was because a newcomer broke the monotony or because the Sith quarantine made everything more interesting.

"Damn good-looking, ain't she?" One of the Sith near him slurred. His friend cuffed him.

"She'd just about blast you as talk to you, moron."

Carth redirected his attention to the ring. Anna had stopped playing to the crowd and dropped into her low stance, one blade angled in front of her and other to the back – in a reverse grip no less.

Everything about her was strange. Why would a smuggler use vibroswords?

And actually, her stance . . . it hinted at Echani training, maybe Jedi, but that was impossible–

The doubts he'd started to quash back at Zelka's reemerged with a vengeance.

His eyes moved to her opponent, blaster held ready. Carth swallowed. She wasn't going to make it across the ring in time. One blaster hit would send her down.

The announcer called for the start, and she shot off. To his surprise, a quick and well-executed roll landed her right next to her opponent, who had gotten off several shots in a rapid-fire pattern. Her sudden appearance seemed to surprise him, too, and he quickly switched to his own blade. A quick tap on his injured hand, followed by a twirl and a light crack on the back of his head from one of her hilts sent him to the ground, and she stepped back.

Using the floor, the air like she'd used against Deadeye . . . that wasn't something smugglers did. Smugglers didn't fight for show.

Hell! Everything she did was totally unlike any other smuggler he'd ever heard about!

"It's over! The fight is over! The Mysterious Stranger has won!" Carth swore he was going to kill the announcer. The idiot made this more painful than it had to be. "Gerlon losing to a rookie: is this a sign that his injuries have finally caught up with him? Or –"

Carth beat the crowd and reentered the dueling side of the cantina, tapping his foot impatiently.  _She better not be planning on doing this all night_.

He hurried forward as she emerged from the dueling chute, saluting a scowling Gerlon as she headed for the Hutt in the corner. Carth hurried up.

" _Another good fight, Stranger_ ," he said, one flabby appendage flopping for credits. " _I like you. The audience likes you. You'll be back_."

"You know, Ajuur," Anna said, flipping through the stack of credits. "These guys keep getting harder to beat. I think I should get a raise, since this is my first dueling ring experience and all."

Ajuur laughed, the sound filling the room. " _You're crazy, Stranger, but that's why I like you._ " He passed over another stack. Anna grinned.

"Good doing business with you. I'll be back later." She turned, nearly running smack into Carth's chest. "Whoa, flyboy." She stepped around him. "Can you get any closer?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting money." She waved the credits at him. "Five hundred! Give me two hours at the Pazaak table and I can  _maybe_  get it higher. I've never been good at math."

"How would you know?"

She paused. "Call it a damned good hunch."

They found another table, and Anna ordered a drink. Carth stared at her. "What? I feel  _great_."

"Where'd you learn – never mind. You wouldn't remember."

"Where'd I learn what?"

"Your fighting." The waitress brought Anna's drink, and Carth caved and ordered his own. "It's . . . well, it's at the least an advanced military style."

She shrugged. "Got me."

"Heeeey," someone drawled. Anna and Carth looked up, and Carth swallowed. It was one of the off-duty Sith from the audience. "You're the Mysterious Stranger, aren't you?"

"Um . . . I am," Anna answered. She held out her hand. "Anna . . . Galon." The last name seemed almost . . . _right_ , natural, like her own was a sort of fabrication or a falsehood that someone else had plastered onto her.

The man ignored the proffered hand, sliding into the booth next to her. "You're a lot prettier from close up, you know."

Anna raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Carth. The man's breath was thick with the scorched scent of Tarisian ale. Carth was trying his hardest  _not_  to look like an iriaz facing an A-D gun. "Uh, thanks, I think." A glint caught her eye, and she glanced down at his collar.  _Sith! Oh, sithspit!_  "Say, you're from . . . Transel, right?"

"Hey – how'd you –"

"Trapped by the quarantine?"

He sighed, leaning back. Anna winced as one of his arms slid around her shoulder. Carth glared at her in  _cut this off while you can_  mode. She shook her head.

"Hey, Yun isn't bothering you, is he?" a woman's voice asked. "He's a little drunk."

"No, he's, uh, okay."

The blonde slipped into the booth next to Carth. Anna half-snickered.

"Hey! Back off, Sarna."

"Relax, Yun."

"So . . . you both work at the base?" Anna asked. Carth continued to look uneasy, and Anna didn't blame him. Sarna's arm moved, her hand under the table, and Anna almost snickered again when Carth jumped.

"Yeah," Yun drawled again, sliding his hand down her arm. "You off-world? Most Tarisians won't talk to us."

"Wonder why," Carth muttered, uncomfortably edging away from the female Sith. They glanced at him.

"Don't mind him," Anna covered quickly, glaring at him. "He's in a bit of a sour mood."

"I don't blame him," Sarna said softly, sliding a little closer to him. Carth swallowed.

It was over in almost an instant. Sarna sat upright, eyes hitting the chrono behind Anna's head. "Yun! It's almost time for our shift!"

Yun swore, and they stood to leave. He dropped back down. "Heeeey, you should come by tonight. Some of us junior officers're getting together, and I'm sure they'd be real impressed if you came by."

Anna took the directions down with a winning smile. "Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing you again."

He leered as Sarna pulled him off. Carth glared at her. "What in  _hell_  are you doing?"

"Calm down, Carth. Junior officers still wear armor. If we can get our hands on –"

Carth nodded. Damn dangerous, but a good plan. "It's dangerous, Anna, but it just might work."

"There's just one problem," she said, glancing down at herself. "I am  _not_  going like this."

He groaned. "This is  _no_  time to be female!"

" _You_  are not going like _that_  either. We've got a reputation to uphold, don't we? Come on." She drained her drink and started out of the bar. With a sigh, Carth waved off the waitress with his drink and followed.

#

Carth glared at himself in the fractured mirror. He looked stupid. This was  _not_  fair. It was Anna who was all gung-ho about going and getting hit on by junior Sith officers.  _This is frakking insane._

The fresher door slid open, and his partner padded out. He didn't turn. "This is insane."

"Yep," she admitted. "I fully realize that. But unless you have a better plan that doesn't involve mugging a Sith patrol in a dark alleyway . . ."

"Not really."

There was a pause. "You look nice."

"I look like an idiot."

"Why? Because your shirt isn't the color of rancor piss?"

"What? I happen to like that –" Carth spun. "—jacket."

Anna hadn't pulled her hair back up, so it fanned out across her back as she laced up her newly-clean boots. The long, deep-blue tunic hugged her, ornate belt strapping it tight to her thin waist. It was a surprisingly simple outfit, but . . . he swallowed. "You look, uh, nice, too."

She glanced up at him with a slight flush, like she wasn't used to receiving complements. "Thanks, Carth. I just hope it's enough to distract them from what we're doing." She sat back. The tunic's square neck cut low, and Carth was fairly certain it  _would_ distract Yun enough. "I-I'm really glad you're in on this, Carth. Yun was getting handsy at the Cantina and, well . . ." she sighed, strapping a blaster to her thigh under the tunic. "I'm a little nervous that Yun's gonna try to get a little more than handsy." She tucked a small knife under the collar of her shirt, in easy reach of her hand. "Especially with his buddies around." Carth stared at her. She stared back. "What?"

"No, it's . . ." he scrunched his forehead. "I start to think I have you figured out and then you say something like that."

She laughed. "That makes two of us, flyboy." She stood, straightening her tunic. "Come on. Let's get to this party."

#

Carth hated the fact that Anna only came up to his shoulder. It made trying to help her walk without attracting attention that much more difficult.

Meanwhile, the woman in question was giggling and hanging off his shirt, hardly able to walk straight. Fortunately, the fruit of her labor was tucked in his pocket – access papers for both of the elevators, good for another four weeks, which she'd nabbed when she'd drunk some Sith lieutenant under the table. He was sure she either cheated or her extremely small form could hold more alcohol than a six-foot-seven man.

Carth managed to get her back into the South Apartments with no major problems, except for a few Sith giving them several disapproving glances. She started to slip down, and he tugged her back up. "Just a few more steps," he said quietly. She giggled, her words slurring together.

"You smell nice."

Carth rolled his eyes as he tapped the controls for their door. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure I do."

"You smell better then Yun did." She giggled again. Carth glanced down at his hand, still not entirely sure if the blood was his or the Sith officer's.

"By that point,  _everyone_  smelled better than Yun did." Carth dumped her on her bed. "Get comfy. You'll feel like hell in the morning."

"Prolly felt worse."

"Just . . . go to sleep." Carth hit the lights. She groaned.

"Wha? No kiss goodnight?"

Carth rolled his eyes as he pulled off his boots and headed for the fresher. That didn't even merit a response.


	5. Chapter 5

Carth returned to the apartment, bag of breakfast in hand. For a split, terrifying second, he thought Anna had bolted.

The sound of water coming from the 'fresher knocked that thought from his mind. It shut off, and she emerged with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Sleep well?" Carth asked. Anna groaned.

"Can you  _not_  yell until the painkillers take?"

Carth set out breakfast. "Told you you'd feel like hell in the morning."

Anna dropped down at the table, head in her hands. "Tell me it isn't Tarisian Chef's Choice again."

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, they're not too open to suggestion over at the cantina."

They ate in silence, Anna's pain slowly decreasing as the painkillers started to mask her headache. "What happened last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"At the party."

"What do you remember?"

"Uh . . ." Anna thought for a minute. "Getting into that match with the lieutenant."

Carth nodded. "I was impressed. You did at least a bottle and a half by yourself before he went under."

"I think I've had Tarisian before. If I have it wasn't a pleasant experience, but I seem to metabolize alcohol faster than most. Did we get the uniforms?"

He was glad she hadn't asked about Yun, and idly rubbed his hand. "Better. I picked access papers off the lieutenant after he passed out."

"So we've got access to the Lower City  _and_  the Undercity?"

"It would appear so."

Anna laughed. "Good. I'd hate for my hangover to be in vain." She stood, grabbing their plates. "I'll wash these, and we'll head over to the elevator and start looking for Bastila."

They locked the apartment and headed for the elevator, and Anna studied the 'to-do' list on her datapad. "Okay. So we've got two major gangs downstairs – the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkars. Sounds like the Beks are relatively useful, so they might help us out. Also, we need to be on the lookout for Holdan or whoever that guy who put the bounty on our neighbor is, the rakghoul serum for Zelka, and some credits for the Save Largo fund. No, wait. We gave him credits already." She took her stylus and crossed that off the list. "So we just need to make sure Largo's off the Kill List for Davik."

"We need to focus on finding Bastila," Carth reminded her.

"Look. If I have a chance to help these people I'm not going to ignore them." Anna put her datapad away as they neared the elevator. "You do the talking. You sound a lot more soldier-y than I do."

The Sith stopped them. "Look, civilians. The Lower City is off limits to  _everyone_  who isn't a Sith. It's obvious that you aren't, so you need to move along."

"Step aside, soldier." Carth held up the paper. The Sith snatched it, skimming the writing.

"Ah. I see I was mistaken." He handed them back with a salute. "Be careful in the Lower City, sir. There's a gang war going on. But I'm certain you will be fine."

"Thank you, soldier." Carth stepped around him, and Anna trotted after him into the elevator. It closed.

"Well, I'm glad that worked," Anna said. Carth stuffed the papers back into his pocket. "Hopefully we can find someone down here who can give us directions." She looked up at him. "Do you think Bastila's still hiding in the Undercity?"

Carth shrugged. "Landing in an escape pod is rough on a good day. If she wasn't stunned on impact – used the Force or whatever – she might still be safe. But if she didn't . . ."

Anna frowned as the elevator jerked on something. "She could have gotten up into the Lower City."

"Maybe. Or one of the gangs might have her." Carth sighed. "I hope not."

"Why not?"

"I just . . . I don't like the idea of a young woman in the hands of a gang. Jedi or no."

Anna frowned. "Yeah. You're right." The doors opened, and they stepped out. They made it two steps before her hands dropped to her vibros.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Not sure. Call it gut."

Carth drew his blasters. He wasn't sure if it was her or his own paranoia, but he knew what she was talking about. "Slowly."

They stepped forward, matching each other's steps, to a crossroads. Anna stuck out her hand. "Heard something."

" _Oohho_ ," Something said to their left. Carth spun, blasters ready, as a Duros in gang colors stepped out of the shadows. " _More up-worlders to watch us, eh_?"

"You don't want to get involved with us," Anna hissed. Carth glanced back as several more slunk out of the shadows around them. He tightened his hands on his blasters. Six-on-two. Not bad odds.

" _Up-worlders with a big mouth,_ " one of the newcomers said. Anna quietly glanced behind her. Carth nodded.

"Step aside. This is going to be more than you can handle."

" _Ha! More than we can handle! We Black Vulkars, up-worlder!_ " with a near-feral yell he raised a glowing blue stick and charged.

Carth shot one of the Vulkars before he could move, dropping him immediately. Another went down several steps away from his companion. Anna disappeared from his back as she leapt forward at the leader, knocking the glowing stick away from him. Another Vulkar headed for her and she struck out at both simultaneously, slicing deep into one's arm and the other's chest. A quick spin sent one blade into one's chest and the other quickly dodging backwards. She pushed the attack.

The sounds of blaster-fire and vibro-on-vibro was attracting attention. Aliens in Vulkar and Bek colors – and some of the smaller, independent gangs – were hurrying toward them, trying to see who was attacking who. Seizing the opportunity to grab a couple of up-worlders and shake them down for their gear, the Vulkars who showed up leapt into the fray, quickly outnumbering the two. Fortunately, the Beks seized an opportunity to beat some Vulkars, so they joined in as well. Before too long a near full-scale battle was taking place between the two groups, with Anna and Carth stuck in the middle.

The Vulkars finally decided that they, while evenly matched with the Beks, had no interest in continuing to let a career soldier and a smuggler who could deliver a mean hit with a vibro cut through them and retreated to their nearby base. The conflict died down, and Carth hurried over to Anna. She wiped her forehead.

"Whew," she said. "I wasn't expecting that." She looked him down. "You hurt?"

"No." Carth had almost forgotten what close-quarters combat was like. "You?"

She shook her head. "Well, at least nothing a medpac won't fix." She glanced around. The crowd was starting to disperse. "I guess they weren't kidding when they said 'gang war,' huh?"

"I guess not." Carth scanned their surroundings. "At least those Beks dropped in. If we'd gotten charged by any more Vulkars I didn't like our odds."

Anna nudged a body with her boot. "We should check to see if there's anything useful on these guys. Grenades, weapons, whatever."

"You're corpse-robbing now?"

"They aren't using them."

With a sigh, Carth helped her search the bodies. They yielded a few grenades and a couple of security tunnelers, but little else. Anna picked up one of the glowing blue sticks, currently deactivated. "Wonder what this is."

"Looks like a shock stick."

"Hm." She flicked a switch, and it danced with blue electricity. "I suppose you're right." She clipped it to her belt. "Never know when you'll need a good electrified stick, I guess."

"So now what?" Carth scanned their surroundings again.

"Those look like apartments." Anna pointed. "We should probably go through them and make sure Bastila's not up here."

"How many Vulkars do you think are in there?" Carth wasn't looking forward to another full-scale riot. Anna shrugged.

"No clue. But we've got to look."

#

Carth's answer would have been "every other room."

After searching both blocks of apartments, the duo stumbled into the cantina they'd passed. It was run down, and the lights flickered almost whenever someone moved, but as long as it had a couple of chairs and something to drink they weren't going to complain.

They started to stumble into the main room when they were nearly run into by a pair of Vulkars. Anna followed their path with her eyes and suddenly took a vested interest in the front room. Carth followed her. "What—"

"Look. I might not remember much, but that's Calo Nord in there." Carth stared at her blankly. She sighed. "Nord is a bounty hunter. Probably the best on the Rim. You get a bounty on you, and Nord picks it up . . . well . . ." She drug her finger across her throat. "It's lights out."

Carth studied her. "What? You scared of him or something?"

"No! Not really. Maybe a little. I've never had enough misfortune to meet him, thankfully – or at least, I don't think I have. But he's got quite the reputation."

There was a bright flash from the main room, followed by blaster fire. It cleared, and a short, boxy man covered in a white cowl stepped out. He seemed to meet Anna's eyes.

"One." He said, voice low. She broke his gaze. "Smart."

He continued out. Carth looked back at her. "What was that about?"

"Eye contact. He apparently doesn't like it." She shuddered and headed into the main room, Carth close behind her.

She beelined for a flickering sign that read 'Bounty Office,' and Carth groaned, jogging to catch up with her. "And now we're bounty hunting?"

"Carth, you really need to expand your resume," she said. "I'm doing this all for you, you know." He glared at her. She chuckled. "I want to clear up Largo and Matrik. That's all."

She trotted forward to the Hutt at the back of the room. "Hi. You're Zax, right?"

" _I am Zax, yes. I run the bounty office. You here to collect_?" He frowned. " _Haven't seen you down here before. You a new hunter_?"

"Yeah. Heard you had a bounty on this guy named Matrik?"

" _Ah, yes. You must be the one with the bomb_." He waved a pudgy arm at her. " _Next time use a blaster! There are less questions asked! But you_ did _kill him, so you deserve the bounty. Three-hundred credits, same as for all of them_." He passed them over. " _You interested in any more?_ "

"Tell me what you have," Anna said sweetly. Carth glanced around the room, thumb rubbing the handgrip of his blaster. The bounty hunters in the room didn't look too happy.

" _There's Davik's bounties and the government bounties. For the government you've got the assassin Selven and the death match duelist Starkiller, and –_ "

"Selven. About this high, reddish hair, 'best assassin on Taris?" Carth asked. Zax made a move that might have been a nod. "We killed her already."

" _I'm impressed. I'd heard a rumor she was dead. Good job – the bounty hunters before you all wound up dead as well. Three hundred again – same as all of them._ "

"Well," Anna started. "If she was so dangerous, I don't think you could complain about parting with, say, another hundred credits for the job."

 _Of course she did_ , Carth groaned.  _Never bargain with a Hutt!_

Zax laughed. " _Ah, you're brave, human, bargaining with a Hutt. But I like you. You get the job done. Four hundred for Selvin._ " He passed over the credits. Anna's smile sweetened even more.

"What are the other bounties?"

" _Davik's got bounties on the girl Dia, a man named Largo, and Matrik . . . but you already took care of him, so that bounty's off the table._ " He paused. " _Actually, Davik also canceled the bounty on Largo. So the only bounty remaining is for Dia._ "

"Excellent. Thank you, Zax."

" _Hope to see you again, human. You get the job done._ "

They walked out. "Okay, so that means only Dia's still on the hook. I just don't know where we'd find Holdan to settle this."

"All I know is I want to find a chair so  _I_  can settle  _myself_ ," Carth said. Anna grinned.

"Looks like there's an empty seat back here." They started over, passing a young Twi'lek girl chatting with the bartender.

"I told you to leave me alone – so give me some space, bug-eye!" a protesting voice sounded from behind them. They spun. The blue Twi'lek had turned from the bar, angrily facing down a pair of Rodians.

" _Little girl should not be in bar._ "

"Little girl?" she protested.

" _Little girl should know bar dangerous. Little girl should know what might happen if she stay in bar._ "

" _Little girl know how Twi'leks fetch on market._ "

"Back off, chuba-face!"

" _Little girl need lesson in manners_."

One of Anna's blades found its way into her hand. Next to her, Carth drew a blaster. Anna was just about to step in when the Twi'lek girl laughed.

"Just a sec, boys." She glanced behind them. "Zaalbar, a little help here?"

There was a Shyriiwook groan behind them. Anna jumped. " _Mission – they just brought my_ —"

"Just a few seconds, Big Z. You need the exercise."

An enormous, auburn-furred Wookiee nudged by them. Carth raised an eyebrow. "No wonder she isn't concerned."

One of the Rodians noticeably paled. " _We want no trouble with big Wookiee. Our problem with you, little girl._ "

The Wookiee growled in their direction, and the Rodians took off. He nudged by Anna again, sitting back at the table. The Twi'lek started to join him when the motion of Anna and Carth putting their weapons away caught her eye. "Hey! I don't recognize you! You must be new down here – I guess that makes Big Z and me your welcoming committee!" She waved them over to the table, and Anna and Carth hesitantly sat down.

"You speak Basic, rather than Twi'leki?" Anna asked. The girl shrugged.

"It really isn't that strange. Most of us understand Basic, but a lot of people just want to talk their own language. Me? I was raised on Taris, so I picked up Basic."

"You showed a lot of guts with those Vulkars, kid," Carth said. The girl visibly swelled. "You got a name?"

"I'm Mission. Mission Vao. This's my best friend, Zaalbar." She rubbed his arm. He groaned, too busy with his dinner. "I'd give you a tour of the Lower City, but the streets ain't safe with the gang war going on. But if there's anything else, I know _everything_  that goes on down he–"

"There is, actually, something you could help us out with," Anna said. "But first, 'cause I'm curious . . . how'd a Wookiee and a Twi'lek street kid end up as best friends?"

Mission shrugged. "Just kinda happened. It ain't easy on your own down here."

"Yeah, we noticed," Carth said. "You're just an odd pair."

"It's a good match. Between Big Z being scary and my street smarts, we survived better together. But I'm pretty sure you don't care about it that much. What else do you need?"

"The Beks," Anna said. Mission studied her. "We need to get in touch with them. We think a friend of ours might be stuck in the Undercity, and since the Beks seem to be fairly reasonable . . ."

Mission gave them a skeptical look. "I saw you coming out of Zax's. You ain't bounty hunters, are you?" They shook their heads.

"No! Not at all."

"Well, kind of. But only if they deserve—ow!" Carth elbowed her. "I meant like Selvin!"

"She's in danger from the Sith and—"

"Let's just say we've got a vested interest in keeping her  _away_ from the Sith."

Mission studied them for a few more seconds. "Okay. You don't seem like most bounty hunters. The Bek base is just around the corner – you mighta passed it on your way here. They're led by Gadon Thek. He's a good guy. He lost his sight in a swoop accident a few years ago. But watch out for the Vulkars – they're jumping everyone nowadays."

"Yeah. They jumped us already," Carth answered. Mission's eyes widened.

"That was you guys? I heard that a few Vulkars started a massive fight down by the elevator."

"Yeah, that was us," Anna said.

"Wow. I guess you don't really have to worry about them too much, huh?"

"What started the gang war?" Carth asked.

"Brejik did. He left the Beks and ruined the Vulkars. He originally wanted to destroy the Beks, but the war's gotten out of hand. They even tried to stand up to Calo Nord a few minutes ago!" Mission motioned over at the front of the cantina.

"Yeah, we saw."

"We should get going. The sooner we find Thek the sooner we can find Bastila," Carth murmured. Anna nodded.

"It was good to meet you, Mission," she said, turning back to the Twi'lek. She grinned.

"You're leaving? Yeah, this place is pretty boring. Come on, Zaalbar."

" _But I'm not_  –"

"Can't you think about something  _other_  than your stomach for five minutes? Bring it with you."

They trotted out toward the front, still arguing. Anna shook her head.

"That is one ballsy girl."

"She's going to get herself killed."

Anna turned to him. "So . . . it wouldn't . . . well, it wouldn't be too weird if we . . . I mean, we could go and see if they want to help us out, right?"

Carth sighed, looking after the pair. He didn't like the thought of someone Mission's age – or species – living out on the Tarisian streets, but there wasn't anything they could do. "Right now, we need to focus on Bastila."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. You're right."


	6. Chapter 6

"A prototype swoop engine?"

Carth glanced around the Bek base again, trying  _not_  to look half as furious as he was feeling.  _Thek's using us._ Using _us._ He turned his attention back.

"It's our only chance to win the big swoop race. The Vulkars stole it. Besides . . . looking for it might solve both our problems. I don't know where they'd be keeping your friend, but there's a chance she's in that base."

Anna sighed. "One second." She pulled Carth aside by grabbing onto the chest-plate she'd found for him. "Look. Thek's driving a hard bargain here, and he has a point. Bastila could be in that base."

 _"_ Thek's  _using_  us. He doesn't know where they're keeping her. They could have sold her by now."

"He said all prizes for the meet had to be put in yesterday, and Brejik wouldn't withdraw her. Not when he's trying to gain support from the small gangs."

"So what? We're just going to break into the Vulkar base?"

"Carth, I know we're trying to keep a low profile here, but unless we want to turn to torture we're not going to have any better chance at finding Bastila."

He ran a hand through his hair. "No, I-I suppose you're right. I just don't like being used."

Anna nodded. "Neither do I. But we don't have a choice." She stepped back toward Thek. "All right. So how do you plan on getting us into the Vulkar's base?"

"I can't tell you how, but I know someone who might know a back way in – Mission Vao."

"Mission?" Gadon's bodyguard protested. "She's just a kid, Gadon –"

"A kid who knows more about the Lower and Undercities than  _anyone_  on Taris, Zaerdra."

"Mission? The Twi'lek kid with a Wookiee sidekick?" Carth asked. Thek nodded.

"She and Zaalbar usually stop by here before they head down into the Undercity. That should be where they are now. If anyone knows a secret route into the Vulkar base, it's her."

"Okay. Well. We'll find her and get that swoop accelerator and –"

"I hope you find your friend," Thek said. "Otherwise . . . well, we'll deal with that when we get to it. We've got a couple extra beds here – if you want, you can bunk down for the night."

"I would appreciate that," Anna said, shooting an angry look at Carth. He begrudgingly nodded.

They were shown to their quarters, a small back room piled two-deep with bunks. Carth and Anna both collapsed on different ones — Anna swung her bag over her head and onto the bed before flopping down like a limp fish.

"It feels  _soo_  good to lay down," she murmured. Carth went through the process of pulling off his boots. Anna pried one off with the toe of the other, then repeated the process before crossing her ankles on top of the mattress. "So. This a good time to ask you something?"

He sighed, setting one of his boots aside. "I'm all ears, beautiful."

She settled back into her mattress. "Kinda like the sound of that." He watched, satisfied, as a low red flush crept into her cheeks before she raised an eyebrow, glancing over at him. "But isn't that a little inappropriate?"

"Is there something else you'd prefer I called you?"

"My parents did grace me with a name."

"Don't get yourself in a twist, gorgeous." He mimicked her posture, dropping back down onto the mattress. She was right. It did feel good to lie down.

"And there you go again."

"Fine." Carth opened his arms. "Call me something. I can take it." Anna mumbled something incoherent. "What was that?"

"I said this is ridiculous."

"Is it, now? Come on, sister."

She cocked her eyebrow again as she rolled onto her side to face him. "How about 'handsome thug,'" she retorted. Two could play this game.

Carth felt the slightest bit of heat rise in his neck.  _Really, Onasi?_ "Partial to the first," he replied, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Not so much to the second. Handsomest pilot in the fleet, though, I think I could handle."

"I wasn't aware the rest of the fleet's pilots were Gamorreans."

"Ouch." He laughed. "I bet beautiful doesn't sound so bad now, does it?"

Anna echoed his laugh. "You are such a pain in the ass."

Carth chuckled. "Guilty as charged." She was still looking at him expectantly. "What, didn't my diversion work?"

"I've seen better," she admitted. "Though they usually involve table dancing." Carth flushed, and she snickered. "Don't worry, the intense lack of tables in this room meant that wasn't going to happen anyway. But if you're in the mood to answer my questions, I wouldn't my hearing them."

He sighed. "All right. Interrogate away."

"This isn't an interrogation." Anna paused, then lowered her voice. "Though I do know ways to make you talk, flyboy."

A shiver rambled down Carth's spine. "I was joking. And for some reason, that doesn't surprise me."

"Anyway." Anna sighed. "We didn't finish our last conversation."

Carth sighed. "I knew you wouldn't understand where I was coming from. Let me explain." He stared up at the bunk above him. "You're probably one of the most skilled women I've ever met, and you've saved my ass more times than I can count already. Between that and the fact that you know every language we've come across without a translator, I'm lucky you're here. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop watching you. I'm just not built that way. Period."

"Sounds like an excuse," Anna replied. "What did I do to deserve this hostility? It's the smuggling, isn't it?"

"No, no, you, uh, haven't done anything. Yet. But there's no guarantee you  _won't_. And I've been betrayed by people before and, well, it won't happen again."

Anna rolled over to face him. "Of course it won't if you never trust anyone!"

"Look, I'm not trying to insult you." Carth recognized the need to run control on the situation immediately. "This is just the way I am. There's no need to take it personally."

"Don't tell me not to take it personally, you hairless Wookiee!"

"Hairless . . ." Carth held up his hands. "All right, sister, just . . . calm down before your head explodes."

"We'll see whose head explodes, you ungrateful monkey-lizard." Carth still wasn't sure if she meant what she was throwing at him or if she was joking.

"Is that your idea of an insult? Come on, sister, take your best shot!"

"Drooling Bomarr cast-off," she mumbled, hardly loud enough to hear.

"I think you hurt my man-feelings with that one."

The reaction was swift. She rolled onto her back. "Don't patronize me." This venom was legitimate. He sighed. "There are better insults in various languages, but you wouldn't understand them," she continued.

"Look, it isn't . . . this isn't personal, Anna. If you were smart, you wouldn't trust anyone either. Not me, not Bastila — when we find her — and especially not yourself."

"Aha!" Anna looked back over at him. "So you don't trust yourself, is that it?"

"I don't need to be analyzed, thanks. Good night." Carth rolled towards the wall. Anna stuck out her tongue at his back and echoed his roll.

She'd get him to talk, one way or another. Her curiosity was killing her.

#

The next morning, they set out for the elevator. Carth held his papers ready. "I don't like this," he complained. "There's too much at stake here for –"

"Carth, look. I know you wish we could just blast into the base, both guns blazing, and solve everything. But this might be the only way. Besides, if there were even four of us I'd consider a frontal attack on a gang base, but there isn't. There's two of us."

"I know. I just feel . . ." he trailed off as she glanced at him.

"We've had that conversation."

"I know."

They trudged in silence for a few more steps. "So, Carth."

He almost groaned. "Yeah?"

"We . . . uh . . . well, about last night."

"Oh. You want to argue some more, do you? Maybe trade some more insults?"

Anna stopped in her tracks, grabbing his arm and pulling him around with more force than he thought she could muster. "No, damn it. I don't want to argue anymore."

He sighed. "Okay. Look, I don't want to argue with you either. I understand why you want to know, and you seem sincere enough. I just . . . I  _don't_  trust people. It has nothing to do with you."

"Bantha. I don't trust people either. I just seem to be better at it than you, because apparently believing that everyone is out for themselves or sometimes those closest to them makes me trusting." She punctuated that with a jab at his chest. "And now that we're working together, it has  _everything_  to do with me."

He glared at her. "You're the most damned persistent woman I've ever met, you know that?"

She chuckled, releasing him and starting forward again. "Guilty as charged."

"I suppose you won't leave me along until I talk, right? Fine." He sighed in a resigned sort of way. "Five years ago, the Mandalorian Wars finished up. Revan and Malak were heroes and I was damn proud to serve in their fleet. They took part of the fleet and chased the Mandalorians back into the Unknown Regions — they were gone forever, so everyone thought they'd died out there. But they came back with a full fleet and invaded us while we were still weak. We didn't expect it. We were all but helpless before them. Think about it. If you can't trust the best of the Jedi, who can you trust?"

Anna sighed. "I suppose you're right. For someone as married to the Republic as you are, that must have been difficult."

"It, uh, there was more. There were others: good, solid men who joined the Sith. Trusted men who joined their cause. Malak, Revan, the Sith — they deserve what they get. But those men who willingly abandoned the Republic for them — they deserve no mercy."

Anna glanced back over at him. "You say that with such hatred."

"I-I know," He replied sheepishly. "I . . . should apologize to you. I've just become so accustomed to expecting the worst in others and . . . you don't deserve that."

"Damn straight," Anna replied. "But thanks. I'm sorry I've been pestering you."

They fell silent as they drew closer to the elevator. Carth handed over their papers. "More getting sent down to the Undercity, eh? Can't say I'm jealous of you. Watch out for the rakghouls – we keep losing patrols like this and we're going to have to start requesting transfers."

"Thanks," Carth said, taking the papers back.

"Even so, you'll forgive me if I don't wish you luck." He pressed the panel for the elevator.

#

The elevator doors opened to reveal that the pair rode down in silence, weapons tight in hand. They relaxed slightly as they stepped out into a village of pale, rag-clothed people.

"Damn," Anna hissed. "What . . . what is this place?"

"Hello!" A young, female voice said. A pale, dark-haired girl sprinted towards them, dealing a level glare at a pair of men who were starting to approach them. "My name is Shaleena . . . you're from the up-world, aren't you? I've never seen it. Is it as nice as they say up there?"

Carth glanced over at Anna. Surprisingly, he was having problems reading her. "It's . . . it's beautiful, Shaleena," she said quietly.

She smiled. "I've never been to the surface, but sometimes I think I can see it in my dreams. The sun, the sky, the stars . . . it all seems so wonderful." Her smile quickly disappeared. "Gendar tells me I should spend more time trying to improve things here."

"Is Gendar your leader?" Carth asked.

"O-oh, yes. He is. I'm sorry. You're probably here for something important, right? He should be somewhere in the village. He's always busy doing whatever he can." She sighed. "Rukil might be able to help you too."

"Rukil?" Anna asked.

"He's the oldest man in the village – Rukil Wrinkle-Skin is what the children call him." That got a chuckle out of her. "I don't know if he will be able to help you, but he's usually on the south side of the village."

"Thank you, miss," Carth said, starting to nudge Anna.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Anna asked. "Food, medicine, anything?"

"I-I don't know, but . . . thank you," Shaleena said, visibly taken aback. "I-I will go see if I can find Gendar for you."

"What was that?" Carth hissed.

Anna ran a nervous hand over her hair. "Carth . . . look around you. Look at these people. Don't you think we should try to do _something_?"

"Are you going to declare a one-woman war on the Tarisian Upper City now?"

She glared at him. "No, Carth, I'm not. We're here on a mission and I'm not going to jeopardize that by being stupid. It's . . . there has to be something we can do for them. Maybe . . . maybe if we find this rakghoul serum and Zelka can synthesize enough of it, we can bring it back down."

"Maybe."

Anna started off towards the south side of the village, where Rukil supposedly was. Carth headed after her, hand on his blaster. No matter what "feeling" Anna was getting, poor people were usually desperate, and these people would be more desperate than most.

"Up-worlder?" Carth turned. A middle-aged, pale man drew to a stop, and he could just see Shaleena behind him. "Shaleena told me that you wished to speak with me."

"You're Gendar, then?"

"I am. I am the leader of this village." He paused, studying Carth for a second. "Shaleena said that there were two of you. Where is –"

Carth glanced behind him. "Anna?" He sighed, shaking his head. If she got jumped, that was her problem. "I'll find her later."

"Why have you come here?" Gendar asked. "Most up-worlders avoid this place . . . however, there have been more of you recently—"

"More up-worlders?"

He nodded. "Armored troops, swoop gangs, mercenaries. They're searching everywhere here – likely for remains of the debris that fell recently from the Upper City."

 _Escape pods_. "Do you know if they've found it all?"

"I believe some of our villagers found several more pods nearby." Gendar was testing his reactions – Carth was certain of it. "Is that what you seek as well?"

"Yes, and no," Carth answered. "We're actually looking for a Twi'lek – Mission Vao. She should be with a Wookiee –"

"Yes. I have seen Mission many times. She stops to speak with us occasionally, sometimes bringing us supplies from Zelka in the Upper City. She and her Wookiee companion usually go to explore the sewers."

"Is that where she is now?"

"I believe so. They passed through here yesterday, but I have not seen them return."

Carth glanced behind him again, wondering if Anna had returned. She hadn't. "What about the rakghouls? My partner would be asking if she were here."

"The rakghouls are monsters – mutations that feast on human flesh. Their jaws can infect those they attack – transforming those victims into another beast. There is no cure, and we must banish the infected immediately. It is . . . difficult, sometimes, but it must be done."

Carth nodded. "Thank you, Gendar."

"As you wish. Should you have need of anything else, you will find me here."

Gendar headed back to wherever he was working, and Carth continued along their previous route. He doubted that she'd gotten far.

He jumped when a skin-tent opening swung, and Anna stepped out. She looked – dazed. "You okay?"

"Huh-" She nearly jumped a foot. "Whoa. Yeah. Hi, Carth."

"What happened? You look like you saw a ghost."

She scrunched her forehead. "I might have. What did you find out?"

"Mission and Zaalbar came through here yesterday, and haven't come back this way. So they might still be down in the sewers."

"Then there's no time to waste, is there?" They headed toward where they could see a heavy iron gate. "The sooner we find Bastila, the happier I'll be."

Carth frowned. "What were you doing in there?"

"Huh? Oh, it was –"

"Hurry, Hendar, hurry!" A shrill, panicked woman's voice screamed. Anna was gone immediately, vibros in hand. Carth sprinted after her.

"He's not going to make it! He's doomed! I told him not to leave the village!"

"No! He will make it! Run, Hendar!" The frantic woman turned to the old man working the gate. "Open the gate! Hurry!" They were close enough to see the man on the other side of the gate, frantically looking behind him as he sprinted towards the village.

"No – I can't! The rakghouls are too close!"

"They'll kill him if you don't open the gate!"

"And if I open the gate, they'll kill us all!"

Anna drew to a halt, eyes skipping between the three Outcasts. "Open the gate," she said immediately, a sudden air of cold authority coloring her voice. They turned to her. "We'll take care of the rakghouls."

"Are you serious?" Carth hissed. Anna glared at him.

"Do I look like I'm joking? If you aren't with me,  _I'll_  take care of the rakghouls. Open the gate."

"Heh. You're brave, up-worlder. I hope you know what you're doing." The man nudged the gate enough for her to slip through. Carth swore and followed her out. Anna pushed Hendar to the crack.

"Get through."

An inhuman roar announced the arrival of the rakghoul, moving awkwardly on all fours, once-human face staring at them hungrily. Carth fired – both his shots didn't even faze the monster.

Anna overhanded one of her vibros, the blade sinking into the rakghoul's shoulder. Successfully distracted from the terrified Outcast, it turned its slobbering, hungry gaze toward her.

"Anna!" Carth shouted as he fired again. She gripped her remaining sword with both hands.

"I've got it, Carth," she replied, irritated. He grit his teeth and fired off a blast of shots. The rakghoul screamed, halting its charge momentarily. Sickly-green spots appeared on its flesh. Carth intended for the pause to give Anna enough time to come back to a reasonably sane point. Instead, she gripped her blade and charged, one fluid, dancer-like stroke slicing the creature's throat. With a gurgling noise, it collapsed to the ground. She calmly retrieved her vibro and wiped it down with a piece of cloth.

"Are you  _insane_?" Carth hissed, hurrying toward her. "You could have gotten us both killed! These things are dangerous, and –"

"We're going to have to fight them sooner or later, Carth. I wanted to see what we would be expecting. Besides, were you going to let that poor woman's husband die in front of her?"

Carth frowned. "I didn't want to, but –"

"My point exactly. There's enough suffering down here." Anna returned to the gate. Hendar and the hysterical woman were holding each other, the woman sobbing and Hendar himself close to tears. Hendar turned to them. "I can't thank you enough for saving me, up-worlder. If I owned anything, it would be yours."

Anna shook her head. "And I wouldn't take it."

They gave them both tearful smiles and walked back toward the village. Anna turned to Carth. "There. Was that enough for you?"

Carth jolted out of his reverie. "Uh . . . yeah. I-I guess so." He stared after the retreating pair.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay, flyboy?" He looked down at her. Her gray eyes flickered with concern. He shook her off.

"I'm fine. Come on. We still need to find Mission."

Anna nodded. "Okay. But if you need to talk . . ."

Carth, blasters still drawn, started into the depths of the Undercity rather than answer.

They talked their way past two Sith patrols, found a third deceased that had a two vials of the rakghoul serum (much to Anna's delight), found an escape pod with a lot of bodies but no survivors, and ran into the Mandalorian merc they'd seen in the Lower City. But there was no Mission.

"This is crazy!" Carth finally said, after beating off another rakghoul attack. Surprisingly they'd both not been injured, even as Anna turned to her blasters instead of her vibros. "They've probably found a back way to the Lower City, and we'll never find them down here."

"Now don't say that, Carth. We don't have room for your negativity right now." Anna yelped, stumbling over a rock. She went to catch herself. "Wait, this is an Outcast."

"Now what? Body recovery mission?" Carth groaned. Anna shook her head.

"I wonder . . ." She bent down and tried to find a pocket on the almost skeletal corpse. "Here." She pulled out a leather-bound book.

"What's that?"

She tucked it away into her bag. "What's what?"

"That book?"

"Nope. No idea. But Rukil wants it."

"Is that who you were talking to?"

Anna rubbed her hands several times on her pants. "Yes, Carth, it was. And you know what? Speaking of Rukil, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Who was it?"

"Who was what? Rukil?"

"No. The person who betrayed you. You speak of the Sith betrayal with personal hatred, Carth. That means it  _was_  personal."

"Is this really the best place to do this?"

"Probably not. But I think I sprained something hitting that rock."

Carth groaned again, digging a palm into his forehead. "So what?"

"Hand me a medpac and distract me." He did, leaning back against a nearby lightpost. Anna started working the laces on her boot. "It's either talk or start dancing, I suppose."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Don't you think you'd feel better?"

"Listen, sister. Just because we're working together does  _not_ mean you can badger me with questions!"

"Oh. Is that another problem you have now?"

"Blast it if you aren't the most frustrating woman to talk to! Isn't there someone else you can harass?"

She looked up at him coquettishly from under her lashes as she pulled off her boot, and he swallowed. "What is it about me that frustrates you?"

 _Damn that woman_. "Oh, no, I'm  _not_  falling for that one. I wasn't born yesterday."

She shook her head. "And you say  _I'm_  frustrating."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Oh, that's rich," she snapped. "Where have you been the past week?"

"I . . ." Carth sighed. He gave up. "Fine.  _Maybe_  I could use someone to talk to. Maybe it's time I did. When I think of everyone who went to Malak's side, one man stands out. Saul."

Anna furrowed her brow as she poked at her ankle. "Karath? Admiral of the Sith armada?"

He pursed his lips, but didn't ask why she remembered  _that_  name. "Yeah. Saul was my commanding officer during the Mandalorian Wars, and my mentor. He came to me before he left – began talking about the fallibility of the Republic and the birth of a new era, and how I should begin thinking of my own future and safety. I know now he was trying to turn me to the Sith . . . but I turned him down." Anna looked up as Carth studied a nearby grate. "I argued with him, he grew angry, and he left. The next morning, I woke up as Sith bombers snuck past our defenses and started blasting everything in sight, and . . . and I knew. I knew it was Saul. And I could have stopped him – stopped everything."

"So you blame yourself for trusting your friend?" She started to wrap her ankle.

"I blame Saul,  _not_  myself. I was . . . I was stupid and I ignored all the warning signs. I swore that I would find him, and when I did . . ."

Anna sighed, pulling her boot back on. "I'm . . . I'm sorry."

 _There it was._ "There's more to it. But I don't . . . I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough." She got to her feet. "Okay. Let's find Mission."

"Hey!" A familiar voice shouted. Carth turned.

"I think she found us."


	7. Chapter 7

The Twi'lek sprinted up to them, looking terrified out of her mind. "Will you help me? No one will help me – not even the Bek's'll help me!"

"Whoa, Mission, slow down," Carth said. "What's wrong?"

Anna was a little more perceptive. "Where's Zaalbar?"

"Gammorrean slavers! Th-they ambushed us in the sewers! Big Z pushed me in front of him and told me to run, and I thought he was right behind me, and – they'll sell him to a slaver, I know it!"

"Where were you when you ran into them?"

"In the sewers." Mission sniffed. "Are you gonna help me?"

"We'll get Big Z back, Mission. Don't worry." Anna rested a hand on her shoulder. "Look, though, Gadon told us you could also get us into the Vulkar base. After we find Zaalbar –"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll take you to the back entrance I know of." She sniffed again. "But you'll help me with –"

"Lead the way." Anna gave her a confident smile.

Mission led them into the sewers, drawing to a stop when they were rather deep. "We were right here when they attacked us. I—"

Anna drew her blaster and fired into the darkness. Repeatedly. A Gammorrean stumbled out, holding his chest. "I'd say we're in the right place."

"How'd you . . ."

"Take a breath."

Carth did. "Oh."

"We just need to find their main camp and –"

A series of grunting attracted their attention as a door opened. A highly-decorated Gammorrean waved his axe.

"That solves that," Carth said.

In the ensuing fight, they learned several things: that Mission was pretty damn good with a blaster, that Carth really couldn't stand the smell of Gammorreans in a sewer, and that Anna should probably  _not_  get close to something capable of slamming her into a wall with a simple backhand.

The last Gammorrean fell with a blast through the heart, and Carth staggered over to Anna, taking her pulse. "Come on, you."

Her eyes flickered open. "Carth? You okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

She paused. "Except for getting slammed into a wall, I'm fine. Where's Mission?"

Carth jerked his head. "Slicing a door."

"Okay." Anna climbed to her feet with Carth's help. "Wow. That's a solid wall."

"Yes, it is. Promise me you'll dodge next time?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "Look, flyboy, it isn't like I  _meant_  to get thwacked by a Gammorrean."

Carth shook his head. "You're okay, right?"

"Yeah. I wasn't even unconscious. Just really,  _really_  winded. Hand me a medpac." He did. She took the needle and jabbed it into her arm. "I don't know if I broke anything," she explained, returning his look. "I'd like to not puncture something because I have a broken rib."

"You don't know if you broke anything?"

"I just got slammed into a wall, Carth. How would I know?"

"I don't know – it hurts?"

Anna just glared at him. Mission finally a-ha'ed in triumph.

"It was an older system, but I managed to get through," she explained as they hurried over. She pushed open the door, to immediately get pulled into the arms of an over-exuberant Wookiee. "Big Z! You're okay!"

" _You're a sight for sore eyes, Mission_." His eyes turned to Anna and Carth, and immediately darkened. " _Who's with you_?"

"Remember them? We met them up in Javyar's. I couldn't have rescued you without them."

"I'm Anna Kyjjl, and this is Carth Onasi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Zaalbar," Anna said politely. He looked about as confused as a Wookiee could.

" _You know the language of my people? That is rare among humans._ " He paused, looking down at Mission. " _You have saved me and my friend from a life of servitude and slavery. There is only one way I can repay you – I will swear a lifedebt to you_."

Anna blinked. Carth cleared his throat, and she translated. "Zaalbar, isn't . . ."

"A lifedebt? Are you sure about that, Big Z?"

" _I am sure, Mission. This is an issue of great importance. Because of our strength, Wookiees are being used as slave labor on our own homeworld. They see us as little more than animals. My life has essentially been saved by your friend's act, and there is only one way I can repay that_."

"Wow . . . Big z swearing a lifedebt to you. This is big. Do you realize what this means?"

Carth didn't. But he could tell by Anna's face that she was still working around it. "It's some sort of honor vow, isn't it?"

"It's the most solemn vow a Wookiee can make," Anna answered. "It means that no matter where I am or what I do, Zaalbar will be with me." She turned back to him. "You're sure about this, Zaalbar? I don't know what's going to happen to me after we get off Taris, and I want you to be absolutely sure you're prepared for this."

" _I am sure, Anna Kyjjl. In the presence of all of you I swear my lifedebt. Forever I will be by your side – may this vow be as strong as the roots of the Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk._ "

Anna gently took one of his big paws in her hands. "I'm honored, Zaalbar."

Carth rubbed his forehead. Unexpected turns. With Anna, they seemed to crop up every two seconds.

"I guess this means you're stuck with me, too. Wherever Big Z goes, I'm going. I almost lost him once – it's not gonna happen again." Mission put her hands on her hips.

"It's good to have you aboard, Mission," Anna said with a grin. Carth rubbed his forehead harder.  _Maybe we should just invite all of Taris, huh_?

"Hm. Well, I guess I still owe you a secret path into the Vulkar base, huh? That was the deal, wasn't it?"

" _You traded something for –_ "

Anna held up her hand. "I would have done it anyway, Zaalbar. Slavers are scum."

"Tell us how you really feel, Anna." She glared back at Carth, who shrugged.

"Okay," Mission stepped in. "Let's head to the back door into the scum den."

"Lead the way." As Mission bounced off and Carth and Zaalbar followed, Anna leaned down and nudged aside the flap of a nearby bag, pulling out a leather-bound journal identical to the one she'd already found. She flipped through a few pages, then tucked it into her bag.

#

Gadon sighed. The two off-worlders hadn't returned, and the swoop race was the next day.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have offered them board and sent them directly out," Zaerdra commented. Gadon glared in her general direction.

"And have them die from fighting rakghouls while exhausted?"

"And what if they sold you out to the Vulkars? You put our only chance of beating the Vulkars in the hands of people who –"

There was a sudden shout from the front of the base, followed by cheers. Gadon stood. "Zaerdra, what's –"

"I-I apologize, Gadon." She smiled as the two off-worlders, followed closely by Mission and Zaalbar, strode into view, the female off-worlder holding the prototype accelerator over her head in a motion of victory. "I shouldn't have underestimated your judgment."

Anna dropped the accelerator onto the table. "We're back, Gadon. Here's your engine accelerator thing."

He turned it over in his hands. "This-this is it. I thank you, off-worlder. Now, there's only one other thing." He handed it off to one of the mechanics, who hurried away. "You need to ride the swoop in the race tomorrow."

There was a pause as Anna and Carth looked at each other. "What?"

"Gadon! We need one of our best riders on that swoop!"

"She's right," Carth protested. "You do."

"Look. No other rider is going to give your friend up. And besides . . . there's a small chance that accelerator could explode on the track tomorrow."

Anna gave a wry grin. "So I see you have all your bases covered." She nodded. "Fine. I'll ride in the race."

Carth stopped her. "No. I'm a pilot, I'll do it."

"Carth, if we're going to get off this rock, we'll need you to fly. Bastila will need you more than she'll need me, okay? Besides, I weigh less than you, so that means there'll be less dead weight on the swoop." She looked back at Gadon. "I'll do it."

"Why don't I do it?" Mission asked.

"No," five voices immediately said. One of them was in Shyriiwook. "Sheesh. All right."

"I'll take you back and fit you for a rider's suit," someone said. With a glance back at the other three, Anna followed another Bek off.

"The room still stands. We'd like her to stay the night – you are welcome to as well," Gadon said. Carth nodded.

"Uh, thanks. Just what  _exactly_  is the likelihood that the swoop'll explode tomorrow?"

"We aren't sure. But the mechanics assure me that it's low."

Carth sighed. "I hope they're right."

#

Carth retreated to their assigned small room, mostly to pace in private. He'd been doing it for what felt like hours when the door opened.

"Wow. They gave you guys the room we usually use."

Mission and Zaalbar walked in. Carth resumed pacing. "How does this race work – do you know?" he asked. Mission shrugged.

"Each racer gets as many races as they want. The track's run solo – I think there's a few places in the galaxy that run a few swoops on the track at a time. That's about all I know."

That didn't answer his question, so Carth continued to pace. Mission sat down on one of the beds. "Hey, Carth?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a pilot, right?" Carth nodded. "So you've been all over the galaxy, right?" Another nod of confirmation. "How does Taris stack up?"

Carth sighed. "I'll be honest, Mission, Taris ranks pretty low. Prejudice, the rich spoiling themselves while the poor are crushed beneath them – not a pretty picture."

"Yeah, but that's only since the Sith. Before that – actually, I guess it wasn't all that different, really."

"Trust me, Mission. There are a lot of worlds better than Taris – and a lot worse. But Taris is no place for a kid to live on her own – even with a Wookiee to look out for her."

"Hey, I ain't no kid!" Mission jolted back upright. "And I look out for Zaalbar as much as he looks out for me – he's my friend, not my babysitter! Geez, I ask you a question and you give me a  _lecture_!" Zaalbar made an addition to the conversation. "Not you too!"

"Don't you snap at me! You want a lecture? How's this: only bratty little children fly off the handle because of a simple comment!"

"I don't have to listen to you, Carth! You ain't my father, though you're sure old enough to–"

"Hey, guys." They looked up. Anna stood in the doorway. The Beks had outfitted her in a flame-retardant racing jumpsuit that looked about a size and a half too big. She spread her arms. "How do I look?"

"Like a parachute." Mission giggled. Even Zaalbar was chuckling. Anna put her hands on her hips, feigning insult.

"A  _parachute_? Hmph." She looked down at herself. "I'd have to be flat to look like a parachute. Although I guess . . ." she shrugged, tossing her gear onto one of the other beds. "Child's jumpsuit my ass."

"You ready for tomorrow?" Carth asked. She shook her head.

"No. They let me take a few runs on another bike though, so I feel a little better than I did before." She shook her head. "You guys are going to watch, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Mission piped. Anna nodded.

"I want you on alert. I have a bad feeling about this."

There was a short silence. "So, uh, why do you guys need to win this race, anyway?"

Anna looked at Carth. He swallowed and started to explain.

Late that night, Anna fell into a restless sleep. Zaalbar dozed off in a corner. Mission and Carth retained an awkward silence.

"Carth?" Mission started quietly, leaning back on the wall. "I, uh – can I talk to you for a second?"

"You ready to have a civil chat, or is this going to be another tantrum?"

"Tantrum?" Mission hissed, trying to avoid waking up Anna. "I'm trying to apologize, you nerf-herder!" She paused. "Oh, uh, I mean . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get mad at you. I'm just tired of everyone treating me like I'm a helpless kid."

Carth sighed. "Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry about what I said, too. I'm a little on edge lately. Not surprising, but I shouldn't take it out on you. But you have to realize that we don't think you're helpless. Look – look at what we're asking to you do. We need you."

Mission stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds. "You really mean it, don't you? Nobody's ever said anything like that to me before, not even Big Z. Thanks, Carth."

"Ah, it's no big deal. I know how it is. Sometimes you just need to hear a few words of encouragement. Kids are like that."

"Kids are like that? Listen you . . ." Realization dawned, and Mission shook her head and grinned. "Oh, I get it. Okay, you got me. You're pretty funny, for an old guy."

Carth grinned. "Get some sleep, Mission. We're going to need it."

#

"I really do  _not_  like this," Carth muttered, fiddling with his comm. The entire situation frustrated him. "I still don't understand why Thek couldn't just tell his riders to hand her over when they win, and we wouldn't be in –"

"This is the Lower City. Do you know how many creds a Republic officer'd get on the Exchange markets?" Mission looked down at the track. "You'd have a better chance at pulling Zaalbar away from dinner." Zaalbar grumbled. "You know it's true."

:: _Hey, guys, it's me_.:: Carth's communicator crackled to life. :: _I'm here. Did a little looking around. I've got eyes on Bastila – they've got her in a holding cage by the announcer with a neural disruptor on. Or so the guard said. She looked pretty out of it._ ::

"What's the field look like?"

:: _Announcer says they've scraped one of 'em off the track already, so we're down to six, I think. Vulkars' favorite is Redros. I'm apparently the Beks' favorite, even though I've never done this before in my life. I don't think._ ::

"When are you racing?"

:: _Not sure. Whenever they yell my name_.::

"What's the time to beat?"

:: _Thirty-eight something. Pretty sure I can run faster than that_.::

Carth scowled. "This is  _not_  a time for sarcasm."

:: _Who says I was being sarcastic?_ :: Someone called the name  _Anna Galon_  over the intercom. :: _That's me. Chat you later, flyboy._ ::

"Anna –" The communicator went silent. Mission frowned.

"She's gonna get herself killed."

"Tell me about it." A swoop moved up to the front of the track, and Carth recognized their companion primarily by the fact that she had hair, indicating that she was the sole human competitor in the race. "Here we go."

"Why's she going by a different name?"

"Just in case Sith are around. We don't want them to know just in case they have a crew roster somewhere." The announcer started the countdown, and Anna's bike jumped a little. "That's not good."

"What's not –"

A chime indicated the start of the race, and they redirected their attention to the track as she shot by. The side of her bike clipped an obstacle, and it skidded. She straightened it out at the expense of several of the track's boosters, but slid across the line without damage or bloodshed. She disappeared back into the pit with the other riders as the announcer yelled her score:  _28.16_.

"That was a good run," Mission said. "Even with the whole running-into-stuff part."

"Let's just hope the time stands," Carth muttered as the next rider shot by. The announcer shouted out his score with a sound of amazement:  _25.12_. "What the hell is that?"

:: _Sithspit!_ :: Anna's voice crackled over the communicator. :: _Sith-frakking-spit! He was just at 38-something! I knocked his time down by 10 full timeparts, and the fragging Nikto goes and has the ride of his skraggin' life!_ ::

"Calm down, Anna. You know what's at stake," Carth answered.

"Don't tell her that, I want to know how many languages she can swear in at once," Mission replied.

:: _Hell yes I know what's at stake, and that little emwhulb son of a schutta-Hutt went and kriffing screwed_ everything _up!_ ::She went silent for a second. :: _Sabu'droten._ ::

"Was that Mando'a?"

:: _You pick up a few things here and there on the Rim. Gfersh, Carth. I don't think I can beat 25.12, and the Ithorian down here's looking at the swoop and shaking his head. Now I might not be a qualified swoop mechanic, but that ain't_ ever  _a good sign. And I don't know what's so 'prototype' about that thing, all I know is it makes the bike pretty damn jumpy, and that ain't good._ ::

"You know what?" Carth snapped. "You get back on that bike, you win this race, you get Bastila back – or you're buying dinner for all of us for the next month."

:: _Was that a threat?_ ::

"Consider it a promise."

There was a pause. :: _You're on, flyboy._ ::

The announcer yelled her name again, and the Beks' prototype swoop slipped back up to the starting line. Carth was almost positive that, if he had a clear view of her face, the look would have been terrifying.

"You sure that's gonna work?"

"No. But I'll tell you she doesn't want to buy us all dinner for the next month."

They winced as the bike literally shot off the line at the call, Anna pushing the engine as fast as she could.

"She's going to get herself killed," Mission said as she cut close enough to an obstacle to touch it. They winced as she almost head-on-ed a broken support beam to hit the booster in front of it. Something may or may not have fallen off the bike. "Carth, if you got her killed. . ."

"Calm down, Mission, I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"I sure hope so," Mission muttered.

Anna hit the top speed the bike could handle, and the duo jumped to their feet (Zaalbar roared from his seat, where he could see perfectly fine) as she hit one of the last support beams and the bike spun out of her control, hitting another boost sideways – and slid to a stop, backward, over the line.

An Ithorian and several of the other Bek riders darted out to the track as the bike stopped its spin. Carth chewed on his lip as the announcer waited for some sort of signal to announce her time.

"It was a really good run," Mission said. "I just – is she okay?"

The Ithorian and a Rodian helped pull Anna out of the bike and steady her. She waved at the crowd before doubling over and collapsing to her knees.

:: _She's only a little dizzy, folks_ ,:: the Duros announcer yelled into his intercom. :: _Coming in with an amazing time of 20.22!_ ::

"There's no way Redros is gonna beat that!" Mission shouted over the crowd. "She did it!"

"And I'm buying dinner again!" Carth shouted back as Mission hugged him.

He hadn't like it in the beginning, but she'd  _won_. He was suddenly surprised when he realized that he was more happy she was still alive than that they were about to have Bastila back and the Republic would be back in the fight.

 _::Hey up there!::_ Anna's voice crackled over the comm. Mission grabbed it.

"That was  _awesome_!"

:: _Glad you think so. My head's finally screwed back on straight and I can stand upright without revisiting my breakfast, so all is well. They should be doing the ceremony soon. I don't even think Redros is gonna try to beat that. Sith-loving schutta-spawn should. I'd like to –_ ::

"Hey, relax."

:: _Eh. You're right. Oh, they're getting everyone together. I'll be back._ ::

There was silence after the Duros announced the winner to the crowd, and then blaster fire erupted from the pit. "Brejik must be backing out!" Mission said.

"We have to get down there — she could have the entire Vulkar gang down on her head it we don't."

The trio sprinted in the direction of the pit.


	8. Chapter 8

She'd been working on this neural disruptor for what felt like years. She would make progress, and then give up and decide she really  _didn't_  care. Minutes later, she'd hear Vrook berating her for giving up, and try again.

But something was changing. She had caught brief flashes of a strengthened Force connection, one she thought she knew. But it wasn't worth it. She'd probably died for good on the  _Spire_ , like her Jedi companions had –

_Focus, Bastila!_

Vrook's voice snapped her back to attention, and she focused. She could hear loud cheering, coming from what felt like miles away.

And then the Force light returned, and she reached out and latched to it, focusing herself on it. She would get out of here. She had to.

#

Carth sprinted around a corner, running almost straight into a shot from a Vulkar standing by the doors. A quick dodge meant it slammed into his arm instead of his chest. With a yelp, he stumbled, firing back at the Vulkar. A bright green blast shot past his head, slamming into the other Vulkar. Zaalbar sprinted past him, bowcaster ready, into the mechanic's pit. Mission poked at his arm. "Go on." He waved her past, pulling out a medpac.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go."

Mission ran after Zaalbar.

Anna was exchanging blows with Vulkar rider Redros, her vibros left with Zaalbar. She glanced over as they ran in, and he threw the vibros at her. She kicked Redros back and caught them, flicked the scabbards off, and reattacked with a vengeance. Another woman in attire that might have made a cantina dancer blush was trading blows with Brejik on the other side of the swoop platform. Mission opened fire as more Vulkars ran through a door on the other side.

Anna slammed her vibros through Redros, dropping the Nikto to the ground almost instantly. A quick glance over her shoulder took in Mission and Zaalbar, and she turned back to block the first reinforcement's blow, maneuvering herself so the approaching gang members would be forced to funnel through her to get to the other woman, who was still fighting off Brejik.

Carth finally dashed out of the hallway after them, bandage wrapped around his arm and both blasters ready. He opened fire from next to Mission, taking down two Vulkars for her every one – and not because of the double blasters.

The flow of Vulkars stopped, and with one fluid motion the other woman finally brought her sword down between Brejik's neck and shoulder. The gang leader dropped, and firing stopped. The woman turned to them, sword held ready.

"Maybe those bloody Vulkars will think twice before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner," she said, almost to herself. Her voice raised as she spun towards Anna, double-bladed weapon ready. "And as for you, if you think you can collect me as a prize –"

"Bastila!" Carth hissed. She glanced over at him, then back at Anna, recognition flickering up in her eyes.

"Y-you!" She whispered. "You're Anna Kyjjl – yes, I'm sure of it. And – Commander . . . how did you end up involved with these swoop gangs?"

Running steps indicated someone's approach, and they whirled towards the door. A group of what they recognized as Beks sprinted through the doors.

" _You! You are all right?_ " One of them asked. Anna nodded.

"We're fine."

" _We need to hurry. The Sith will be here soon to sort this out_."

"Come on," Anna barked toward Bastila. She balked.

"How do we know we can trust them?"

"We don't have time," Carth snapped. "We have to. Come on."

They sprinted after the group.

#

The Beks took them in that night until the ruckus created by the brawl died down, donating some clothing for Bastila and celebrating their win with what to them was an extravagant celebration, but for the off-worlders was relatively modest. After a night in the base with no real opportunity to discuss recent happenings, they worked up a disguise for Bastila and strolled back to their apartment hideout in the Upper City without so much as a second look from the Sith patrols.

Once safely back in the apartment, Bastila ripped off the headscarf they'd made her wear, combing out her dark brown hair with her fingers. "What is going on here?" She demanded. "You wasted your time racing for swoop gangs instead of finding a way off Taris? What have you been doing for the past week and a half?"

"Wow," Mission commented. Zaalbar groaned a reply. "Yeah, I know."

"We were looking for  _you_ ," Anna replied, hands on her hips. "Because planning to get off Taris without having  _you_  would be silly."

"Ah. I see. Well." Bastila straightened herself up. "Now that I am  _back_ in charge of this mission, things will go more smoothly than when you 'rescued' me from Brejik."

"I'll sell you on the slave market myself if you'd like," Anna retorted.  _And this is our best hope against the Sith? We probably should just surrender now . . ._

"I know you're new at this, Bastila, but a leader doesn't berate her troops when things aren't going as planned!" Carth interjected before Bastila could answer.

"That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way to address your  _commander_ , Carth! I'm a Jedi, and this is my mission!"

"You might win us a few battles, but that does  _not_  make you a good leader! If you were, you'd listen to the advice of people who have seen more combat than you ever will!"

"That's enough!" Anna jumped back in. "This isn't helping, and if anyone were to hear you, you could bring the Sith down on our heads!"

There was a long, quiet pause. Bastila finally sighed. "Yes. You're right. I apologize, Carth. The past week has been . . .  _difficult_ for me. W-what do you suggest we do?"

"Don't sound so pained, for starters," Anna muttered sulkily, crossing her arms.

"For one, we can't get hung up on who's in charge; we all need to work together to get off this rock. Now we just need to figure out what to do."

"But we must have some sort of  _order_  here, or –"

"All right. You two deck this out. Mission, we'll go check out the Cantina, and see what we can find out. Besides." Anna picked up her vibros, strapping them back on. "We could use some more credits."

The duo disappeared through the door. Bastila looked over at Carth. "What does  _that_  mean?"

He shrugged. "Probably the dueling arena."

"Dueling arena – and you  _let_  her do this?"

"We need the credits, Bastila. No one dies. It's okay."

"It is  _not_  'okay,'" Bastila said sanctimoniously. She wrapped her headscarf back around her head and neck and tucked her lightsaber under her borrowed coat. Carth stopped her.

"Bastila, you –"

She pushed past him and out the door. Carth grabbed his blasters. "Zaalbar, hold down the fort." He sprinted after her.

" _Humans are strange_." Zaalbar shook his head.

#

Carth caught up to her, and they walked into the cantina to the sound of loud cheering. From somewhere in the back Carth could hear the ring announcer.

"—dueling champion,  _The Mysterious Stranger_!"

Cheering continued for a while, and Carth beelined for the duelist's area as a crowd started to form. Bastila followed him, glancing around her nervously. Many of the people here were off-duty Sith, she was sure of it. A quick tuck checked her headscarf.

Mission pushed through the crowd, spotting them and heading over. "What happened?" Carth shouted over as she came closer.

"Anna's the new Taris Dueling Champion!" Mission said excitedly. "It was  _great_!"

"I thought you were trying to keep a  _low_  profile," Bastila muttered. Carth glared at her, but his reply was cut off as Anna appeared.

Anna quickly got her credits from Ajuur and caught sight of them. Tucking her credits into her pocket, she started to push through the crowd, signing a couple of holos as she went. She shook her head.  _People._

As she pushed through the crowd, something cold pressed into her hand. She glanced down – a datapad. Another glance noted that there was no one who looked like they'd done it.

She finally reached her companions, Bastila's disapproving glare piercing into her. The crowd was almost fully dispersed. "I do not approve of this."

"Oops," Anna retorted. "Forgive me if I and my now fifteen- _hundred_  credits don't apologize."

"Fifteen- _hundred_?" Mission asked, eyes enormous. "That's – wow!"

"While we are here we should ask around about ways off this planet," Bastila said, ignoring Anna's previous jibe.

"Mission," Anna said, taking control away from both of them. She dug out a small stack of credits and handed them to the Twi'lek. "Check out the Pazaak den – yell if anyone starts bothering you. Don't go crazy, but see what you can do." With a grin, Mission bounced out to the front. "Carth and I will eavesdrop in here. Bastila, you check the music room." She started to argue, and Anna glared at her. "Check out the music room. The first person to get a lead finds everyone else."

They split up. As soon as she was out of Carth's sight, she turned on the datapad.

 _Taris swoop champion, Taris dueling champion – I could use someone like you. Meet me here in the private back room – I'll be waiting_. _Come alone, or not at all._

Hairs raised on the back of her neck. There was no way she could know if this was a trap, so she couldn't go. But something else told her that this was the lead they needed. She turned off the datapad and headed for the back room.

Two younger men with large blaster rifles stood guard, eying her suspiciously as she approached and pushed open the door. She glanced around for a second, one hand on a vibro and one on a blaster.

"I've been watching you," someone said to her right. She spun, vibro half-drawn. She recognized the man behind the table as Davik's Mandalorian. "The swoop race, the dueling ring – you're getting yourself quite the reputation."

"What's your name?" Anna said.

"Have a seat." She glanced at the door. "Don't worry, they aren't going to shoot you."

Hesitantly, she sank down into the chair. She slipped her blaster out of its holster, aiming it in the general direction of the Mandalorian's stomach. She couldn't take chances — although why she was suddenly so suspicious of him, she didn't know. "I'll ask again. Who are you?"

He chuckled. "Canderous, of clan Ordo. We've met before, albeit briefly."

"Down in the Lower City and the Undercity. I remember." Her thumb ran over the grip of her blaster. "I received your datapad."

"I figured." He studied her. "And?"

"I'm listening."

#

Bastila found nothing in the music room, and retreated into her own thoughts. Anna stepping into command the way she had bothered her. It had been natural, almost unconscious, and it worried her. She'd not been given an opportunity to assess the damage her association with a non-Jedi had caused, and that made this leap into control even more worrisome. Had her memories come back? No, that was impossible. If they had – but no. She would be just as hunted as Bastila, if not more.

No, all signs pointed to Anna still being safely reprogrammed, though Carth believed she was suffering from severe amnesia. But this insistence on control still needed to be stomped out before it became troublesome.

Someone cleared a throat behind her. She turned. Anna leaned on the music room door. "I have something."

"What?"

"Not here. Come on."

They collected Carth and Mission (who'd gained an impressive stack of credits on her own) and retreated to their hideout. Once back, Bastila pulled off her headscarf. "What is going  _on_ , Anna?"

"I have a lead," she said simply, sinking down at the table. They joined her, Zaalbar setting aside his grenade. "But I don't think you're going to like it very much." Carth groaned. "I received a message when I left the duelist's area, from the Mandalorian that works for Davik."

"Canderous?" Mission asked. "What –"

"He's given me an offer – Davik's flagship, the  _Ebon Hawk._ "

"That's the one that's supposed to be able to run the blockade, right? He can get to it?"

"If that ship can run the blockade, then what are we waiting for? What was his offer?"

"He'll get us access to the ship . . . but in exchange, we need to get the launch codes to bypass the autocannons on the Sith ships."

There was a pause. "Where would they be?" Bastila asked.

"Locked up tight in the Sith base."

There was a larger, more pregnant pause. "You're kidding. He wants us to break into the Sith base?"

"There's no way! That place is locked up tighter than a Hutt's treasury!"

"This is absurd. There must be another –"

"This is the only lead we have, unless any of you have a better lead."

Mission shook her head. "The only thing I heard was that they don't let common soldiers carry the codes, or we'd have them now. I mean, I don't think that it's impossible to get in there – I just don't know how we'd do it."

"Janice Nall or whoever over at the droid shop's got a droid that was being especially built to break into the base. She'll sell it to us if we tell her Canderous sent us, and we can use that droid to break into the base."

"Yeah. And then we can just waltz into the base."

Anna dealt Carth a glare that nearly made Bastila shudder, and stood. "Fine.  _I_ 'll go get dinner,  _you_  all sit here and figure out better ways to chastise  _the only_  plan we have." She strode out. Bastila sighed.

"I should freshen up." She stood and headed into the 'fresher. Carth sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"She  _is_  right, Carth. We don't have another plan," Mission said.

"No, I  _know_ , Mission. It's just, well, waltzing into the Sith base isn't going to be easy, and there's a high chance that we're going to get killed or captured doing it. Damn!" He slammed a hand on the table. "We spent all this time  _avoiding_  the Sith, and –"

"But if you wanna get of Taris there's only one way to do it, Carth. And that's –"

"I know, Mission." He sighed, heading for the workbench. A scope Anna had found in the Undercity waited for him – and if they were going to break into the Sith base, he'd need it.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, it's the Mysterious Stranger!" The bartender said, grinning. "Dinner's on us tonight." Anna briefly wanted to ask him if they had anything other than Mystery Goop, but decided against it. Especially if it was free. She held up six fingers, indicating the number of dinners she needed. Two for the Wookiee. "Too bad you beat Twitch. No one's fool enough to fight you anymore." He sighed, handing her a bag of boxes. "I'd give anything for you to fight Bendak, but he only fights death matches. It's a shame. It'd be a good fight."

"Well, thanks. I'm glad you think so highly of me," Anna said with a smile, taking the bag and starting toward the exit, missing the fact that the bartender's eyes had widened exponentially. She nearly ran into an enormous gold chest.

"You." The cantina was suddenly quiet and tense. She craned her neck up to find the gold chest attached to a gold, Mandalorian-style helmet. The – man? – reached around her, dropping an empty mug onto the bar.

"Yes?" Her neck was starting to stiffen, and she didn't like the fact that he had her pinned in place. One of her hands found her vibro, wrapping around it.  _Softest part of Mandalorian Neo-crusader armor is the armpit and if you can get up under the mask. Not sure why I know that._

"You are the Mysterious Stranger, correct?" Anna nodded. "You look far . . .  _larger_  . . . in the ring."

"You . . . must be Bendak," Anna replied. He might have grinned behind his mask.

"Yeah. And I'm willing to come out of retirement to show you what it's like to do battle with a real champion."

The cantina, had it not been silent before, was so deathly quiet that Anna briefly wondered if she'd taken a wrong turn and wound up in a tomb. ". . . But you only fight death matches," she finally said.

"Didn't figure you for a coward, Stranger."

Anna frowned, her hand clenching tighter on her vibro. "I didn't say I  _was_  a coward. But showing me how to do battle with a champion in a death match doesn't leave much room for my improvement  _if_  you win."

Bendak chuckled. "You willing to fight me, Stranger? Or does the idea of a death match frighten you?" His tone was mocking. He was mocking her. Anna clenched her hand around her sword.

"Not sure why a last remnant of a defeated people should frighten me," she mocked back. She felt she could almost sense Bendak's snarl behind his mask.

"Ah. An attitude I hear a lot from your type." He chuckled. "I wonder why that is?"

Anna panicked, but kept her pazaak face on. "Whatever could you mean, Starkiller?"

There was a long pause as Anna started a staring match with the helmed duelist. In the end, there was only one thing his cryptic statement  _could_ mean. She glanced around the cantina – no, too many off-duty Sith. There was no way she could talk her way out of this without revealing too much to them.

"You're on."

"Good." He chuckled. "Talk to Ajuur. I'll meet you back here when he has a time."

Bendak turned on his heel walked out the door. The cantina suddenly buzzed back into life with a vengeance, and she sank back down at the bar.

"Give me something really,  _really_  strong," she said, setting the bag of food on the bar.

#

Anna should have been back a half-hour earlier. Carth paced in front of the apartment door, arms folded behind his back.

"I'm sure she's fine," Mission said. Bastila emerged from the 'fresher, towel wrapped around her head.

"I shouldn't have let her go alone. With the way trouble is attracted to her, there's no telling what –"

"What? Anna is not back yet?" Bastila glanced around the room. Carth glared at her.

"You see her?"

" _No_ , Carth, that is why I was asking."

The door opened and Anna stepped through, palming it closed. She dropped the food on the ground and sank against the closed door.

"What happened?" Carth dropped next to her, one hand on her shoulder. She moaned and rested her head into her hands. "What?"

"I am an  _idiot_ ," she moaned. By now, Bastila and Mission had joined them at the door.

"What is wrong?" Bastila asked softly.

"Bendak. Bendak Starkiller.  _That's_  what's wrong."

"He's that death match duelist, isn't he?" Mission asked. Anna nodded. "What happened?"

"He's more intelligent than he should be. H-he's been watching us, he realized what we were doing, he  _must_  have seen me talk to Canderous, and . . ." Anna rubbed her face with her sleeve. "I-I tried to talk my way out of it but there were too many Sith around and –"

"Oh  _no_ ," Carth groaned. "You didn't."

"I had to. Or I would have compromised the entire mission."

"W-what's going on?" Mission asked, glancing between Carth and Anna. Bastila finally caught up, and threw her hands in the air.

"You got yourself involved in a death match? Force! We'll never get off this planet."

Anna got to her feet, glaring at the young Jedi. "Do you think I  _wanted_ to, Bastila?" Carth knew that the only reason she wasn't yelling was to avoid attracting attention to them. "Do you think I had a  _choice_? I  _didn't_! He knew who we were, he probably knows who  _you_  are, and the only way I could keep our cover was to do this! You can go!" Anna pointed. "Ask anyone who was in that cantina! I'm doing what I have to do – like I have the entire time I've been running around Taris like I'm insane, looking for a snotty Jedi with a paranoid commander and the only normal people around are a Wookiee and a Twi'lek!" Anna dropped the bag down on the table, promptly turned on her heel, and stormed back into the apartment building. Before they could stop her, Bastila dodged the door and headed out behind her.

Carth stopped Mission from following. "Anna's not going to do anything stupid, and she probably won't leave the complex. Help me set this out."

#

Bastila caught up to Anna staring out one of the windows overlooking Taris. She held up her hand as Bastila approached. "I'm sorry," she started. "I shouldn't have snapped like that."

"It – it is alright." Bastila looked out the window next to her. "I should not have reacted the way I did." Anna leaned heavily on the sill, and Bastila tried not to look at her. "I have been under a lot of pressure recently. I know that is no excuse for my actions, but –"

"Bastila?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up." She obliged her – for a few minutes.

"What did Bendak say that made you assume he knew about us?"

Anna paused. "I read the subtext."

"But how could you tell?"

She paused again. "Bastila, I don't know. But I could."

Bastila swallowed and closed her eyes, then leaned on the sill near Anna. "Has this ever happened before?"

Anna nodded quietly. "I'm usually a good judge of people . . . but it's never happened like this."

They were silent for a few minutes. "May I ask you something?"

"I suppose."

"When – when we were in the Bek base after the race. Something appeared to bother you. What was it?"

Anna glanced over at her. "Well, I saw a vision or something. Of you. Fighting a dark Jedi." She squinted back out the window. "It isn't the first one I've had, either."

"A . . . dark Jedi. Did you hear a name?"

"Revan. I suppose that would be  _the_  Revan, the name doesn't seem very common." Anna seemed strangely distant. Bastila studied a passing speeder. "Well?"

"I-I suppose this could be an indication of Force sensitivity."

Anna cocked an eyebrow. "And what is  _that_  supposed to mean?"

"It is merely a supposition. When we met, your own abilities may have fed off my own, and you may have witnessed one of my more . . . intense memories." Bastila seemed sad for a second. "But I have spoken too much out of turn, and we shouldn't speak of this out here."

"You're right." Anna sighed. "We should get back in. Galaxy knows when you last ate."

They returned to the apartment. Carth, Mission, and Zaalbar had already set out the food and started eating. Anna slid into her customary chair between Mission and Carth, and Bastila slipped in next to Zaalbar. "Sorry I stormed out," Anna said immediately.

"S'okay," Mission murmured.

"About the Sith base," Carth said. "I've, uh, thought about it a little more, and I believe that it's the best way for us to get our hands on those codes."

"As unwilling as I am to break into a base full of people trying to find us, I also agree with this course of action," Bastila added hesitantly. Whether she was using the Force to add flavor to her food or she was just that hungry, Anna wasn't sure. Either way, she was enjoying her mush. "I do not know what course of action we should take, though."

"Neither do I," Anna said, picking at her food uncomfortably. "But I don't like walking in the front door."

"Front door's a bad idea, no matter what you're walking into," Mission replied. "You know, I'm sure there's air ducts or something that half of us can sneak through. There always are."

"Sith regulation is that air ducts are two feet by two feet. Not even you could wiggle through that."

"What about loading docks? There's always an equipment and supplies entrance somewhere," Anna said. "We could possibly sneak three through there and then the other two and the droid can go through the main entrance." She pushed a pile of mush around on her plate. "I can take the droid through. Make up some excuse about 'joining up' or something." She squinted at her companions.

"Mission, you and Zaalbar would have a better chance of getting through the loading dock. Carth, you should go with them. We can rig up a disguise for you and we'll meet back up inside the base somewhere. I'll take you, Bastila, and the droid through the front entrance and see if we can't sneak through any security that might be there." She pushed goop around with her fork, frowning, then pushed the plate toward Zaalbar. He happily loaded her plate on top of his. "We'll see if the droid can't pull a plan for the base out of somewhere and we'll decide where to meet up. I'm going to, uh . . . do something." She stood and headed toward the workbench. After a brief pause, Bastila pushed her plate toward Zaalbar and followed her.

"Yeah?" Anna asked tonelessly, prying the cell off one of her vibros.

"I wished to ask you a question."

She glanced at her suspiciously. Fool woman was full of questions. "Shoot."

"I would like to know what happed after you crashed on Taris."

Anna shrugged again, fiddling with her screwdriver. "Looking for you, obviously."

"Yes, of course. But it must have been more than a simple search. You avoided the notice of the Sith, you learned of my captivity, gained swoop race sponsorship, and slid your way into the Taris swoop championship. That's impressive."

"I'm just that good," Anna said with a wide grin, holding her arms open. Bastila's sigh and glare made her sag. "Either way, I had help. Carth did most of the early work while I was recovering from a head wound sustained on the  _Spire_ ; Mission got us into the Bek base; and Zaalbar . . . well, he knows a lot about a lot."

"Your modesty is admirable, but your attitude needs a little work." Bastila frowned. "You say you sustained a head wound on the  _Spire_?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Anna frowned. "On my head, obviously. . . why do you ask?"

"I . . ." Anna thought that, for a second, a look of panic might have taken hold of Bastila. ". . . I only wish to see if I can do anything for the wound," she hurriedly finished.

Anna sighed, pulling up her hair to show the long, jagged scar that had started to form. "When the ship was attacked, I assume a sudden jerk to the right sent me into the other bed in my room, causing this."

"You fought through the  _Spire_  to the escape pods with this?"

Anna shrugged. "You Jedi hired me as a security consultant, and if we were being boarded a little head wound wasn't going to keep me from doing my job."

"A  _little_  head wound?" Bastila traced the mark with her finger. "This runs the entire length of your skull."

"I've had worse."

"I doubt it."

Carth watched from across the room, further losing interest in his tasteless meal. He could tell from Bastila's expression that she knew more than she was letting on – but their conversation ended before he could figure out what, and Bastila walked back to the table. "She wants to speak to you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

Carth sighed and climbed to his feet, pushing the plate over to Zaalbar before heading over. "You asked for me, your highness?"

"Oh, stop." She glanced over at him. "I had a question." Her voice lowered as she spoke, unscrewing the hilt on her vibrosword in favor of an Echani-made one. "What do you know about Bastila?"

He raised a brow. "Bastila?"

"You know, stuck-up-Jedi-girl over there."

"No, I know who . . . Why?"

Anna shrugged. "Something about her bothers me."

"I know what you mean."

"Do you?" She glanced back at him. "It isn't what she represents or who she is. I don't know what it is. It's like . . ." She wriggled the hilt onto the tang of the blade. ". . . I've seen her before."

"You have. You were a security consultant for —"

"No . . . I mean before that. It's like there's . . . some important thing that I'm forgetting. Something  _really_  important. Because Bastila . . ." He glanced over his shoulder at the table as she spoke. ". . . keeps watching me. Like I'm going to kill everyone out of nowhere and I don't know why."

Carth sighed. "I don't, either." He had his doubts. She was right. Something was different about her; something just  _wrong_ but _not_  wrong at the same time. "I don't think you're going to go crazy and kill everyone. So there's one vote of confidence."

"Heh." She gave him a sincere, genuine smile. "Good. I'm glad we've gotten to that point."

"Now, if you're done harassing me," Carth grabbed her arm, pulling her to the door. "We're going to the equipment store, and I'm finding you better armor."

"I'm perfectly fine in what I own now –"

"I don't think so, sister. You're going up against a guy wearing full Mandalorian armor. If you can get through that, that's one thing. But we need to find you something that'll hold up in a real fight."

Bastila, Mission, and Zaalbar watched as they exited into the hallway, still arguing. Mission half-laughed, returning to her hand. "What?"

She shook her head. "I give them a few more days."

"Until what?"

"Until they're together."

"Oh,  _Force_." Bastila rubbed her forehead. "I hope that is  _never_  the case."


	10. Chapter 10

Carth walked Anna to the dueling area the next night, leaving the others to find their seats. They reached the door to Ajuur's side of the cantina, and she turned to him.

"I can take it from here, Carth."

He nodded, resting his hand on her shoulder. She was trembling. "You'll beat him, Anna."

"I . . ." she swallowed as her voice failed, and answered him with a weak smile. "I might pretend otherwise, but even I get scared, Carth. A hundred wins and no losses in death matches is a far better record than mine."

"Then be his loss." Carth, before he could stop himself, kissed the top of her head. Anna shuddered as she felt it flood through her body, down into her toes. "Good luck, gorgeous."

"I'll harass you later, flyboy," she whispered.

He watched as she started to walk toward Ajuur. "Anna!" She turned. "Bendak's bigger than you. I know you like those vibros, and you're good with them, but don't get close unless you have to."

Anna's smile was genuine. "Thank you." She turned and continued her march toward the Hutt, and then disappeared through the duelers' hatch. With a sigh, he entered the arena to find the others in the crowd. It was easy to spot them – they were in the front row, and Zaalbar was the only Wookiee in attendance. Several on-and-off-duty Sith peppered the audience, easily spotted by the silver pin on their chests. Bastila shook her head as he sat down next to her. "I cannot condone this."

"She'll be fine," Mission said. "Anna's good."

"I am afraid that Starkiller may be  _better_ ," Bastila replied. "I have faith in Anna's abilities, but without seeing Starkiller's I cannot truly judge the outcome."

Bendak was the first to appear in the dueling ring. Whether he was calm or not was sort of a toss-up because of his mask, but he seemed it as he adjusted his blaster.

Anna stepped into the ring not long after him, the red suit of Bonadan armor Carth had bought her the day before – easily some of the better armor in the store – hugging her. He swallowed – he hadn't really noticed the fit before, but he shook his head to clear it. It'd only be useful right now if it distracted Bendak. She gripped her vibros tight in both hands as the announcer began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Carth scowled. "Come with me now on a journey to the savage days of years gone by . . . to a time when two combatants entered the arena and only one came out alive. They're illegal, they're banned, and they've been outlawed for nearly ten years – ("How can one man say 'illegal' so many different ways?" Bastila asked) — but we've got one for you tonight! A good, old-fashioned death match!

"In this corner, a living legend. A man whose very name would make his opponents shake in their boots . . . if any of them were still alive!" He laughed. Carth, squinting, caught Anna's scowl. "Out of retirement for one last battle: Bendak Starkiller!" The closer Carth looked, the more panicked Anna seemed.

"Calm down," he whispered, wishing she could hear him.

"And who would be crazy enough to step into the ring with such a lethal legend? Who would be mad enough to face almost certain death merely for your enjoyment? Ladies and gentlemen, feast your wondering eyes on . . . the Mysterious Stranger!"

There was no smile, no wave to the crowd like her previous bouts. She stared at Bendak, her face drawn in determination, knuckles likely white from the grip she had on her blades.

"And now, the moment we've all been waiting for –  _let the death match begin_!"

Nothing happened. The crowd sank into surprised confusion.

The two opponents stared at each other, Anna sinking deeply into her irregular stance. Bendak's arm twitched, and something – too small to really see from the stands – clattered onto the floor. Carth recognized the noise. "He threw a grenade."

Anna dove to the side, rolling back to her feet as the grenade exploded into a bright, sticky blue mess. Her on-hand vibro disappeared as she produced a blaster, a shimmering blue shield covering her.

The death match didn't seem to be going the way the crowd wanted it. Anna grimaced as Bendak's armor seemingly absorbing her bolts, her jaw clenching together in frustration. He was advancing towards her, slowly but noticeably. Her own shield was starting to flicker, and she bit her lip. She was going to have to get up and personal with a Mandalorian duelist who was three times bigger than her.

She flipped her blaster back into its holster and redrew her vibrosword. Bendak sped up, using momentum to send his sword slashing down on top of her head. She dodged, feeling a breeze as the sword missed her by inches. She swung back, missing Bendak's neck by several inches.

The crowd was back into it as Anna and Bendak traded blows, parrying each other off as they attacked. Carth rubbed his forehead. "I told her  _not_  to engage him –"

Bastila ignored him, her own thoughts a long way away. Anna's motions were fluid and controlled, if desperate. She frowned. Anyone who had seen . . . no. No one would have. No one here, or alive, at least.

Bendak's vibro slammed into Anna's side, glancing off her armor. She staggered, thrown off balance, wildly swinging back at him. She got a lucky hit on Bendak's arm, and he stepped back. There was a pause as they both regained their balance, and re-attacked with a vengeance.

Mission was leaning forward on her knees, hands covering her mouth. Carth put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, trying to keep it from shaking.  _Frakking Anna and her big mouth._

Anna grit her teeth, beating Bendak's sword aside. The attack didn't work, and he almost took her arm off with his parry. Her other sword thwacked into his helmet, doing little more than leaving a dent but making her feel a little better.

To her surprise, as soon as the start was called her panic had disappeared. She was eerily, strangely calm, parrying and attacking the far larger Bendak with the coolness of a professional soldier. She wasn't sure why, and didn't really have time to figure that out.

 _There'll be time for that later,_  she thought, allowing herself a brief thought that possessed hope because otherwise her mind was going to be a really dark place and that wasn't the best mindset for something like this.

The battle remained a stalemate for a while, but Carth could see that Anna was starting to tire. He dug his nails into his thigh through his slacks. Bendak was bigger, stronger, and seemed more experienced than her, and the Mandalorian was obviously growing frustrated at the length of time the death match was going on for. The crowd had stopped screaming, but the intensity radiating through the air hadn't disappeared.

Finally, Bendak slammed his foot into Anna's torso. She staggered back into the wall, collapsing.

"Sithspit," Carth muttered. Mission had her eyes covered, watching through a small slit between her fingers.

As the crowd yelled, Bendak calmly walked forward, aiming to finish her off. Anna pulled herself to her feet, dropping back into her crouch, vibros ready. He said something – Anna responded, but over the crowd the conversation was unintelligible.

Anna ducked into herself and charged. Bendak swung.

And before they knew what had happened, Anna was straddling the duelist, both vibros driven straight through his armor — one through the armpit, one up under his helmet. She collapsed to the side on her knees, Bendak's sword through her shoulder with one hand on it protectively.

There was a stunned silence as Anna slowly climbed to her feet, hand holding the sword in her shoulder, breath heavy. The announcer, sounding startled, came back onto the intercom. "Bendak is down! It's over! The fight is over! Bendak Starkiller is dead! All hail the Mysterious Stranger, the greatest duelist to ever grace the rings of Taris!"

Four seats had never been vacated so quickly - quickly enough that they didn't wait for Anna to either limp or be carried out of the ring. Carth, Bastila, Mission and Zaalbar were out of the arena and into the dueling area before anyone else had moved, pushing past the posted mercs to disappear into the duelists' area.

They found Anna in the medical room, collapsed on a slab. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, and they couldn't tell if she was awake. One hand still held the sword upright. Carth shot to her side. "Hey."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Hey, flyboy." Her voice was strained, and he  _really_  hoped that there wasn't a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.

"How're you feeling?"

She coughed, small specks of a frothy, slightly pink foam splattering across her cheek. "I'd be feeling better if there wasn't a sword through my lung," she replied matter-of-factly. "Unless you -" Another cough, accompanying a dreary blink. "- missed that."

That explained why she wasn't moving, and why her breathing was so shallow, and . . .

"What happened? You took him down so fast . . ." Mission asked, trying to avoid looking at the large piece of metal stuck through Anna's chest.

Anna coughed again, her voice weak. "I'd been weakening him, and pulling him in by thinking that he was wearing me down." Another cough, and a brief head-shake. "He fell for it, but threw a spanner in the works when he kicked me into a wall. I think he broke several somethings in the process. But the good news was that I had enough sense about me to knock him off balance and get my swords into the weaker parts of his armor." She nodded slightly at the sword. "Unfortunately he got me on the way down."

"We noticed," Bastila said dryly. "Where's the medical droid?"

"Pronouncing Bendak dead, and hopefully giving me back my vibros. Apparently it's a rather difficult process." Anna coughed, and again splatters of obviously bloody foam sprinkled across her face. Carth grimaced, watching as her eyelids fluttered again.

"Bastila, can't you . . ."

"Move aside." Bastila started to unfasten the shoulder of her armor, using a knife to slice the fiberweave open directly. Anna winced, grabbing onto Carth's hand. She gently looked at the wound. "You are fortunate. The wound is straight through, and looks clean. We will have to pull the blade out – it will hurt, and will put you in immediate danger, but if it is fast enough then it will be a limited thing and should not affect you too much."

"That's comforting." Her voice was weakening.

"Mission, will you take her?" Carth passed Anna's hand over to her, and Anna released her grasp.

"Hey, Mish," she said drowsily, apparently starting to lose the will to stay awake.

"We need to hurry, Carth. She's losing blood quickly. Take the sword." Bastila rested her hands on Anna's shoulder, around the blade. "I will begin part of the healing process. Count to three, and pull out the blade." She closed her eyes. Carth swallowed.

"I'm sorry, gorgeous," he whispered. "One. Two. Three."

Carth pulled the sword out, and Anna bit down on her lip to prevent a scream. Almost immediately the wound healed up, and Bastila stepped back. Anna started coughing.

"How do you feel?" Bastila asked.

"A little better," Anna answered, still weak. She released her grip on Mission's hand when she noticed her wincing. "Do you still have any of your juice left?"

Bastila glared at her as the others chuckled. "The Force is not a joking matter, Anna."

She grimaced. "Whatever. Can you do anything about whatever's clinking around in my stomach?"

There was silence as Bastila worked. Two of her ribs had broken, but only on her right side when Bendak hit her. For what they were, the breaks were simplistic and easy to mend. After several minutes, while still in pain, Anna was sitting up and coughing out the blood that had started to collect in her lung before Bastila healed her.

The medical droid floated in, chirping. " _Do you require any medical attention_?"

"You're a little late," Anna said, struggling to stand. Mission lifted her uninjured arm around her shoulder – she was a little closer to her height, so Carth wouldn't have to bend down awkwardly. Carth, meanwhile, took Anna's vibros from the droid. "I . . . I believe I'll be leaving now. Anyone have a large, hooded jacket I can borrow?"

"Why would you need a large, hooded jacket?"

"So we can get back to the apartment in peace. I'd prefer to not get mobbed until I can stand straight."

There wasn't one, unfortunately. They walked back up to the duelist area, where Mission helped her to Ajuur.

Carth worriedly crossed his arms as he watched her debate with the Hutt, finally looking over at Bastila. "What was she?"

"Hm?" Bastila jerked out of her thoughts, which were fairly far away and involved quite a bit of confusion and panic.

"What was she?"

She shrugged. "She was a smuggler. I am not sure what your question is, Carth."

"She doesn't fight like a smuggler. She fights dirty, yeah, but she fights . . . well, she fights like a Jedi."

Bastila paused for a second, watching Anna barter with Ajuur. "I do not know what you mean. Whatever concerns you have, Carth, you must set them aside. She is a talented individual, but she is  _not_  a Jedi."  _Yet_.

Carth frowned, obviously not trusting her answer. However, Anna turned and was helped over by Mission, and the discussion was cut short. She handed him a blaster.

"What's this?"

"It was Bendak's. Wonderful spoils of war. I want you to have it."

"Why's tha–"

"It's a damn good blaster, and your off-hand blaster sucks right now." She coughed. "Now can we go back to the apartment? I would like to go and remain immobile in peace."


	11. Chapter 11

Bastila and Carth purchased the droid Canderous had mentioned from the droid shop using Anna's winnings, once they'd escorted her back to the apartment and she'd promptly collapsed into an exhausted slumber. But by the next morning, Anna was ready to break into the Sith base, even though she was having problems with her shoulder and felt like the sewer rancor had stomped over her repeatedly.

Carth came back with breakfast and they crammed themselves into the table again. She slipped into the seat next to him, towel wrapped around her head. "How're you feeling?" he asked, handing her a box.

"A lot better," she said with a grin. "Slept like a  _rock_."

"So what's the plan for today?" Mission asked.

"I see no reason to deviate from the original plan." Anna looked up. "What?"

"You just had a punctured  _lung_ , Anna," Carth reminded. She scoffed.

"Bah. I'm feeling  _great_." She took another bite of Mystery Goop, and made a face. "I mean, seriously, I just kicked death's  _ass_."

Bastila scoffed. "You shouldn't be so cocky. Walking into that base now would be –"

"I'd rather get it over with. And the sooner we're in and out of that base the happier I'll be, because it means we're closer to getting the hell of Taris."

Bastila looked at Carth, who shook his head. No, when she was like this, there was no talking her out of it. "So, Bastila," Carth said, picking at his food. He still hadn't quite forgiven her for avoiding his question the previous day, and the air in the apartment had a definite sheen of awkwardness to it. "I was wondering something. How did those Vulkars manage to capture a famous Jedi like you? Were you knocked out when you crashed?"

Anna noticed a bit of color rising on the back of Bastila's pale neck. "No. I was conscious. But my Force powers were exhausted from using my battle meditation in the battle. Without my help you might never have gotten off the ship alive."

"Fair enough. But I've seen you Jedi in action. There's no way those thugs would have stood a chance against your lightsaber."

Bastila was almost fully flushed by now. "My lightsaber was . . . misplaced. I couldn't find it after the crash. I looked  _everywhere_ in that pod. The Vulkars came and overwhelmed me even as I was searching for my weapon."

Carth couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait a minute – let me get this straight. You  _lost_  your lightsaber?" He grinned. "I mean, isn't that a violation of some kind of Jedi code or something?"

Anna snickered. Mission was already laughing.

"This is no laughing matter!" Bastila scolded. It was hard to take her seriously when she was the color of the carpet. "During the crash my lightsaber must have –" She paused, almost as if the realization struck her hard. "It must have fallen from my belt and rolled under my seat! The Vulkars probably found it there when they searched the wreckage."

"Hey, don't get mad," Carth said. "I'm sorry. It's just . . . funny to think of a legendary Jedi losing her lightsaber. Take my advice: this is one detail you might want to keep out of the history texts."

Bastila hid a small laugh behind a delicate cough. "I hardly consider myself a legend, Carth. Though I will consider your advice when I relate these events to the Jedi Council . . . there is no need for them to know  _every_  detail of what transpired."

Anna raised an eyebrow. Bastila? About to lie to the Jedi? She pushed a pile of mush around.  _God_ what she wouldn't give for something that looked like what it was. She'd even take a gizka steak, and  _that_  was nasty.

Bastila stood to wash her plate off. Anna pushed her leftovers toward Zaalbar and hurried after her. "Bastila? I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"I don't see why not." Bastila ran water over her plate. "What's bothering you?"

"Well . . ." Anna leaned back on the wall, eying the others at the table. Mission was distracting Carth with an amusing story about something so the likelihood of them being overheard was low. "During my fight with Bendak . . . well, as soon as the announcer told us to start, I wasn't . . . myself. It was like I had some sort of other person taking control of me, but they  _were_ me, so it wasn't like I was possessed or . . . I'm not making sense, am I?"

"You are. Don't worry," Bastila answered. Anna frowned.

"Why . . . do you know what could do that? Because I've lived my life out on the Rim, but I've never heard of something like that happening."

"I can only assume that there is another part of you that fights more methodically than your normally cocky self," Bastila answered. "Apart from that, I am afraid I can offer you no further explanation." She looked up. Anna had her arms crossed across her chest, skeptical look on her face.

"You know more than you're letting on," Anna said. Bastila sighed.

"I have suspicions, none of which should be spoken of here. I suggest you put on the armor that T3 is currently mending for you, and we break into this base you are so desperate to infiltrate."

Anna scowled, straightening up. "Fine. But Bastila . . . I expect answers someday." She brushed past the Jedi toward T3's mending area. Bastila sighed.

#

:: _We're here. Let you know in a few. Make your move._ ::

Carth glanced at Mission. "You ready?"

She nodded. "But you really creep me out right now."

Anna had thought of everything. He straightened his Sith armor, sliding on the helmet. "I freak myself out right now. Come on."

The duo approached the back door of the Sith base, and Carth wrapped his hand around Mission's arm. His grip was gentle, and his thumb rubbed it comfortingly. He swallowed.

"I don't like this, Carth," Mission whispered.

"Don't worry. I've got you."

"That's not what worries me."

The guards at the door finally took notice of them. One of them drew his rifle; the other held out his hand. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Found this thing skulking around the back of the base," Carth growled. "Thought we'd throw her in for questioning. See if she knows anything."

"Whereabouts?"

Carth froze for the briefest second. "Quadrant C," he threw out, almost impulsively. His hand shook on Mission's arm.  _Please buy it. Please buy it. Please buy it._

"Hm." The first guard nodded. "Yeah. Take her into the cells and get one of the officers to check her out."

Carth nodded as they opened the doors and he and Mission stepped through. The doors zipped closed, and he let go of her. "Hack that terminal." He pulled the helmet off. "Do they not design these to  _breathe_?"

Mission shook her head. "No. And can I just say . . ." She glanced over her shoulder. ". . . I'm really glad you aren't a Sith. That was scary."

Carth continued stripping the silvery Sith armor off him like it was diseased, but looked over at her. He swallowed. "Yeah. Well. Hopefully we won't have to do that again."

"Okay. I'm in the system."

He drew his blaster. "Open the doors. That's the signal for Zaalbar. Zaalbar. Door's coming open."

There was a quiet mumble into the comm. Carth nodded to Mission. The door shot open, and almost immediately the Sith commandos were looking around it.

"What the hell?"

Carth shot down one trooper before they could react. The other started to fire, before a bright green blaster bolt slammed into his back. "Zaalbar! Get in here!"

The Wookiee growled and dove through the door. Mission closed it.

"Can you check on the others?" Mission nodded as Carth stared into the facility. "Hopefully they're okay."

#

Anna wiped her vibroblade off on the closet Sith technician's uniform as Bastila deactivated her lightsaber. "I hope Carth has held up to his side of the plan."

Anna chewed on her lip as she hacked into a terminal, locking the front door behind them. T3 chirped at her side. "I'm sure they're in."

:: _Anna._ :: Mission's voice came through the comm, and she opened it.

"Yeah, Mish."

:: _We're in. How're you doing?_ ::

"Good. Meet us in . . ." Anna pulled up a map of the base. "The main central chamber. We'll send you, Z and T3 back to watch the loading dock and we'll get those codes."

:: _We'll see you there._ ::

Anna stepped away from the computer. "Come on."

The trio jogged or rolled down the nearby corridor, towards where Anna had seen the large central chamber. Several Sith guards spotted them and rushed in. Bastila and Anna launched themselves at the men, cutting down two of them before Carth, Zaalbar, and Mission broke in through the back and opened fire.

The guards finished, they regrouped in the center of the room. "Okay," Anna said. "We're here. Where's the loading dock empty out?"

"Back through there."

She nodded. "All right. Mish, Z, take T3 and cover the loading dock. We'll cut through, get the codes, and meet you at the dock."

" _You! Human!_ " The voice of a Duros suddenly broke through their conversation, and they jerked around. " _You there - human. Remember me? You helped me once before when the Sith were trying to arrest me. Outside your apartment. Do you remember?_ "

Anna stepped around T3 towards the cage holding the alien. "Yes. I remember you."

" _I am in need of your help once again. The Sith are going to execute me. Please, help me get out of this cage._ "

"Anna." She glanced back at Bastila. "You know this Duros?"

She nodded. "There was a skirmish in the hallway seconds after we started out for the first time. He covered our asses."

" _She speaks correctly_ ," the Duros continued.

"How do I get you out of there?"

" _Switch all the panels on the wall to the red 'off' position and I will be released. it is not as simple as it sounds - switching a panel will also switch the panel beside it. You must be careful as you do this, human. If you set all the panels to the green 'on' position my cell's termination program will engage and I will be executed._ "

"Fun." Anna checked her vibro. "Mish, T3, take care of him, get him back to the dock. We'll keep going forward." She checked the map she'd downloaded onto her datapad. "Bastila. Carth. This way."

Anna trotted into one of the side corridors. The Duros stumbled out of his cell as T3 promptly hacked the locks and released him. Mission waved. "Come on. It's this way."

They started back in the way they came, Zaalbar quietly padding behind the others. As Mission stuck her head around a turn, T3 let out a series of angry, panicked chirps that took them off guard. Zaalbar rumbled with a shortg question. "Guards," Mission answered quietly before opening the comm. "Anna, there're Sith coming towards us. They're blocking the way back to the loading dock."

There was a quiet period of silence. :: _Is there a terminal nearby?_ :: Anna hissed.

"Not that I see."

She swore on the other end of the line. :: _Hold on two seconds. We're almost to the main control room and we'll set off all the alarms in a different part of the base. That should give you a clear run to the dock. Then go ahead back to the apartment. We'll meet you there or come back for you if we can't._ ::

"Okay. We'll wait for the alarms, but we're staying at the dock."

:: _Mission-_ ::

"You need a way out."

Anna sighed. :: _Fine. Stay still._ ::

Anna was true to her word. In a matter of minutes alarms pealed deeper inside the base, and T3 finally released a low, slow chirp and rolled forward into the back of Mission's knees. "I think it's clear," she said. "Come on."

#

"Mother of all Wookiees," Anna hissed as they peered around the doorjamb. "That's a big droid."

Back in the background of the base, alarms still rang shrill in the previously silent air. Anna had set them to rotate through several of the main quadrants, changing as soon as someone deactivated the current alarm so the next sounded across the base. She was quite proud of that little trick — she didn't know where she'd learned it (granted, she'd learned her name off a small datapad in her bag earlier that week so perhaps she shouldn't be surprised that she didn't remember) but it was a handy trick she'd keep up her sleeve in the future.

However, that was an enormous attack droid shooting at them, and while the map hadn't had the ever-useful "LAUNCH CODES HERE" scrawled across it anywhere, she suspected they needed to get past this thing to get them.

"I bet it has a regular access control panel on the back of it," she continued. "Looks like a simple Mark-Seven assault class. R model, maybe. Cheap but brutally efficient. If I can get around to the back of it I can disable it. Maybe."

"Are you sure?" Carth asked.

"Nope."

"I can stun it for a matter of seconds," Bastila said from across the doorway. "It should give you enough time to slip around behind it, at the very least."

Anna glanced back at her and nodded. "Yeah. Do that."

Bastila took a deep breath and swung into the doorframe, throwing her hand out as she focused on the droid's major sensory programs. Anna bolted out the door and under her arm as the droid slumped slightly. Carth jumped out after her, opening fire as the droid began to regain function.

Seconds later the droid started to twitch, like something was just outside its line of sight. Something clanged, then another something, then sparks flew out the back of it. Anna hit the floor and rolled as it sparked and collapsed in on itself, knife clenched in her hand. "Sorry," she said half-heartedly as they approached her, still collapsed on the floor. "It didn't have a way to shut it off from there. I needed an input code."

"How'd you do it then?" Carth asked. She looked pointedly at her knife. "No. You didn't . . ."

"Right into the central mainframe."

"You could have electrocuted yourself."

Anna grinned, holding her blade up. "Rubber grip."

Carth rolled his eyes and pulled her to her feet. "Come on then, Rubber Grip. Let's get these codes."

Anna snickered. "'Rubber grip,' huh?"

Bastila grimaced as Carth turned at least two shades of red before she stalked back toward the elevator. "Come on," she called back, tone a smidge more irritated than she had intended. Carth and Anna hurried after her as she pushed the down button for the lift.

"Any ideas?" Carth asked.

She shook her head. "No. But I sense that there may be another Force-user in this base." Apart from Anna, that was, though the individual in question had no idea of that right now.

Anna checked both her blaster and one of her two swords. One of their encounters had jiggled the vibration cell loose and, with an annoyed sigh, she slammed and fastened it back into its scabbard. "I vote that the Jedi of the group takes care of that?" she suggested.

Bastila sighed. "I will take the lead for this."

The elevator trundled to a halt and the doors opened into a short, brightly-lit hallway. "I'd say that's our end point," Carth commented. Bastila took a step forward and pressed the door's latch. It zipped open.

Ahead of them a man was irritably climbing to his feet, hefting a threatening-looking double-bladed vibro off the floor as he did. "Who dares disturb my meditations?" He barked, obviously an individual who was not used to being disturbed and thereby would have had no idea that his base was in shambles and that  _he_  was probably about to be in shambles as well. "You will pay for interrupting my —" He stopped dead, scanning the group for the briefest of seconds before developing a short, feral grin. "I sense the Force is strong with you. Very strong . . . Who could have thought that an adept could be found on this insignificant planet?" He scoffed, and Anna had the distinct feeling that she wasn't sure if he was looking at herself or Bastila. "But your talent is no match for the dark side."

Bastila glanced at Anna out of her peripheral, pulse racing. Anna's face was unreadable, which didn't serve to help her heart. With any luck, she believed the Sith ahead of them was talking about Bastila herself . . . though the likelihood of that was low, with Anna's intelligence. There was the slightest flicker of confusion in the turn of her lips, and she knew she needed to step in.

"Turn away from the dark side," Bastila said quickly, drawing the Sith's attention away from her. "Or we will destroy you."

He scoffed. "Spoken like a true drone of the Jedi Council. I am sure my master will reward me with my lightsaber when I kill you."

Anna's feet suddenly shot out from under her as she tumbled back several meters and into a wall. Bastila disappeared from Carth's side, her lightsaber igniting halfway towards her opponent. Carth reached down and pulled Anna to her feet.

"You okay?" He hissed, firing back at the Sith ahead of them. The shot went wide as he dodged.

"Yeah," Anna nodded. "So is it bad form or something to get involved in this?"

"I don't know. I don't fancy getting my limbs chopped off by Bastila though."

Anna nodded. "Well, I guess I'll just kind of relax back here. Try to, I don't know. Shoot his legs or something." He stared at her. "What? I'm serious!"

"I'm just not sure it's a good idea to start shooting him when lightsabers can deflect blaster shots or when Bastila keeps getting in the way."

Bastila shoved her hand out and pushed the Sith back several feet.

"You're a good shot." He glared at her. "Oh, stop giving me that!"

"I'm sorry, forgive me for not wanting to shoot Bastila's kneecaps ou—" He glanced back at Anna, who was watching the fight intently. "What?"

She held up a hand. "In less than a minute, Bastila's going to end up in that wall there."

He looked. "How would you —"

To his surprise, Bastila's feet suddenly shot out from under her and she flew several feet back into the wall, crumpling to the bottom. The Sith turned back to them. "That's my cue," Anna said. "Seriously, kneecap him."

And just like that, she was gone. Carth opened fire to cover her approach. She dodged under the Sith's first swing, thrown a little off as one of Carth's shots slammed into his shoulder. He managed to block Anna's first swing, forcing her to parry high as he returned her strike.

Bastila started to pull herself to her feet, shaking her head to clear it. Carth fired again, this time a glancing blow off the Sith's arm — with Anna fighting instead of Bastila there was less likelihood of the shot getting deflected and of him hitting their side, as yet another benefit of Anna's small stature. The slight shift in the Sith's posture was just what Anna needed. In a flash, she slipped behind his guard and slammed one of her vibroblades up under the soft padding at his waist and, spinning to the side to avoid his somewhat frantic return swing, jammed her spare in between his neck and shoulder.

As Bastila finally pulled herself back to her feet, the Sith dropped. Anna withdrew her sword and tried to tug the other out from under his armor. Carth padded forward and managed to extract it, handing it back to her. She smiled briefly. "Thanks."

"That was insane," he said. "You are absolutely insane."

Her smile widened into a grin. "You like that insanity. Admit it."

"Not on your life, gorgeous." He grinned back.

"I am sorry," Bastila suddenly said, apparently regaining her ability to breathe. Carth and Anna took a step back from one another. "Thank you, Anna."

"Anytime." She clapped down on Bastila's shoulder. "Let's find these codes and get the hell out before the Sith fleet realizes they've lost communications."

Carth and Bastila moved off to start rummaging through crates as Anna headed for the terminal. The sheer amount of credits that were floating around in the room indicated that they'd hit what was essentially the Sith base's treasury; Carth had no qualms about helping themselves to them. Bastila, meanwhile, had found a large stack of datapads and was currently going through them.

"This is amazing," she murmured to herself, catching Carth's attention. He glanced over at her, and she held them up. "There are lists of Sith plans in neighboring star systems. The Republic and the Jedi will be very interested in these."

"Do you have the codes in there?"

She flipped through another few. "Yes. Right here."

"Good." He looked back at Anna. "Anna, we found the codes."

She held up a hand, her tongue caught between her teeth as she concentrated on whatever was on the terminal. A few seconds later, she looked up. "Yeah. Sorry?"

"Bastila's got the codes."

"Good. The Sith have noticed that alarms are going off in the base and they'll be here in about ten." She stepped back. "We should probably go."

"What were you doing on there?" Bastila asked. Anna's immediate look of innocence seemed insincere.

"Nothing." With that, she bounced off for the elevator, and Bastila looked to Carth. He shrugged.

"I have a feeling the Sith are in for a really big surprise. And no, I don't know what it is."

#

General Scarl had been on the other side of Taris when the news that the Sith base had been broken into reached him. He'd mustered as many men as he could locate and headed straight there, arriving merely an hour after the alarms had first gone off.

It had been a surprise to find Taris' governor face-down in a pool of blood, bearing the telltale marks of lightsaber battle and close-quarters vibroblade combat. Scarl checked his pulse, though he knew what the result would be.

"Set up a perimeter," he started. "They can't have gotten—"

Scarl never had time to finish, as the console before him suddenly chimed and the Sith base was wracked with an enormous electromagnetic pulse that would be written off as a shameful accident in that night's report to Malak.


	12. Chapter 12

They fled the Sith base to the Undercity, not trusting to head back to their apartment. Anna emptied her bag on the table in the ramshackle room as Mission and Carth struggled to get the room into some sort of habitable state. Bastila watched as she shuffled through the contents – a datapad, a couple of passkeys, a set of three old-looking, beat up journals, a couple vials of some sort of green liquid, a nice stack of credits, a few spare parts, tunnelers, and computer chips for hacking, a holdout blaster, and a few other odds and ends. "What is this?" Bastila asked, holding up the vial to the light. Anna snatched it back.

"It's a vial," Anna replied.

"Of  _what_?"

"Serum to combat the rakghoul disease in the Undercity." She glanced up, tucking the journals, datapad, vials and blaster back into her bag. "Mish, you coming with?"

Her head jerked up. "Yeah."

"Carth, do what you can for . . . this." She waved her hand at the apartment. "Mission and I are going to run down to the Undercity and drop some things off for the Outcasts."

"I should come with you," Bastila said hesitantly, though Anna wasn't sure what the hesitation was for – going down to the Undercity, or going with  _her_. She almost turned her down, but decided against it.

"Come on. We shouldn't be long."

"Be careful," Carth said, spreading out a ragged sheet on the floor. Anna mockingly saluted and started out. He glanced after Bastila, then back at Zaalbar. "Mind giving me a hand?"

Zaalbar shook his head with a low grumble and grabbed one of the other ragged sheets.

#

The next morning Bastila, Anna, and Carth walked into Javyar's, finding Canderous by the bar. He caught their eye and jerked his head at a shadow-covered table, where they joined him. "I figured you'd be back." He leaned back in his seat casually. "Now, I know someone broke into the military base, and I know it was you. And I know you have the codes I need. So what do you say? We join forces and I can get you inside Davik's base – and right to the  _Ebon Hawk_. I've got an airspeeder outside. We can leave any time."

Anna leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. She tsked him similarly to the way he'd done when they had met in the Upper City Cantina. "I'm tempted, Canderous, I really am. But there's a slight problem. How do I know you won't just leave me high and dry in a crime lord's personal estate while  _you_  sail off in his ship?"

"Look,  _I_  don't like the idea of trusting you either. But I can't fly a ship all on my lonesome. 'Sides, as soon as you know how to get a ship on  _your_  own, you let me know. The Sith ain't going to stick around looking for whatever they're looking for much longer, and if Telos is any example they won't mess around when they leave." Anna didn't miss Carth's hands clench when he mentioned Telos. "I don't know about you, but I'd plan to be gone by then."

Anna didn't nod, but a subtle squint drawing at her eyes indicated that she thought he was right. Carth's hand tensed on his blasters under the table. She gently, invisibly, flicked his wrist. "Then how will you get me inside Davik's?"

"Davik's always looking to recruit new talent." Canderous leaned forward. His face was impassive, but they thought he was happy to be talking business again. "I'll tell him about that race and your death match with Bendak – nice, by the way, since I know you'll be claiming those credits from Zax too. Slightly ironic, killing him in a death match – and I'll tell him I brought you in for him to recruit. He'll stick us in a room as his estate for a couple of days while he's running background checks on you. While he's busy checking you out –" Carth snarled slightly at the term "—we'll grab the  _Hawk_  and get off Taris. The sooner the better."

Bastila shook her head. "This is too risky. We should find another way."

Carth was about to disagree with her. Canderous beat him to it. "You got another plan, sister? Or you just upset you didn't beat me to it?"

"No, I . . ." Bastila faltered for a second. "I don't have another plan. I would rather not place my life in  _your_  hands, however."

"Neither do I. That makes us even. Fortunately, we both want to get off this rock." Canderous glared at her. Anna stood.

"The sooner we move the sooner we've got that ship." She looked down at the other two, plan slowly forming in her mind. She grinned. "Carth, you're with us. Bastila, wait back at the apartment and help make sure we're ready to get out asap."

"Why – you may need me –"

"We need an excuse to have either you or Carth inside with us. I don't favor the idea of it being only me running around with Canderous in there. Besides, you and your lightsaber are a bit obvious." Anna grabbed Carth's hand as he stood. "What do you say, flyboy? You ready to get hitched?"

"What?"

"That's what I thought."

#

Bastila stormed back into the Lower City apartment. Mission and Zaalbar looked up. "Anna didn't take you with her?"

"No. She took Carth." Bastila dropped down at the table, rubbing her head.  _Yes, I may have my own reasons for objecting to this . . . Force_. "They're posing as a husband-wife team getting checked out by Davik for the Exchange."

Mission snickered. "Told you it'd only be a few days."

"Hush. It's a disguise to explain Carth's presence. I only hope that Anna knows what she is doing." Bastila sighed. "They want us to head back up to the Upper City apartment to wait for them. Carth says that it will be much easier to reach us there than here once they have the ship."

#

Anna bounced on the balls of her feet. She was nervous – she wasn't going to lie. Carth was sweating next to her, and she squeezed his arm. "It's okay, flyboy," she hissed.

"If we're doing this you need a new pet name for me. I don't want to give anything away," he muttered. Her grin was absolutely evil.

"I'll think of something."

"Don't you think this isn't a good place for this?"

"Hey, we're married, remember?"

"Canderous –" Anna had heard the footfalls, but had tried to distract Carth from them. It worked – the pilot nearly cleared six feet. "I see you have brought someone with you. Most intriguing – you usually travel alone."

Anna swallowed, forcing her face to stay in her original, irreverent expression.  _Calo kriffing Nord._  Carth noticed her tensing and wrapped his hand around her forearm. She relaxed slightly.

"It's not like you to take on partners, Canderous," he taunted. "You're getting soft."

"Watch it," Canderous growled. "You might be the newest kath hound in the pack, but you aren't top dog yet."

"Enough!" Davik snarled. The two backed down. "I won't have you two killing each other – that's not good business. I'm sure Canderous has a reasonable explanation for this."

Canderous jerked his finger behind him at them. "Thought you might be interested in recruiting this pair. You might have heard something of them recently."

Davik's eyes settled on Anna. "Ah, yes. I recognize you now. You are the rider who won the swoop championship. It was an impressive win – as was your display in the heated battle afterward."

Calo's eyes were trained on her – she couldn't see them, but she could feel them. She struggled to ignore him.

"And . . . yes. Also the woman who killed Bendak Starkiller. It was an impressive fight."

"Thank you," Anna said. "I try. But I didn't know you followed either the swoop races  _or_  the dueling ring."

"I'm a . . .  _casual_  fan," Davik answered coolly. "Everyone follows the season opener. And the death match caught my attention. But it is no matter. We have more important issues to discuss. Who is your companion?"

"This is Jagen. Jagen Galon. My husband."

For a second, Davik may have been disappointed. Carth rubbed the top of his blaster with his hand. Anna raised an eyebrow at the crime lord's expression. "It is, however, a very loose marriage. Gotta keep my options open."

Carth frowned, but did his best not to elbow her.  _She keeps talking like that and our cover's blown._  Canderous was almost grinning.

"Well, with a recommendation from Canderous and a thorough background check you could become part of the Exchange," Davik continued with a sideways grin. "Many would kill for the honor."

"My interest is certainly peaked."

"Come with me – I will give you a tour of our operations here. You should be most impressed."

Anna nodded, she and Carth falling into step after Davik. Canderous and Nord brought up the rear. Carth noticed her uncomfortable twitching and took a little more liberty than he would have previously, pulling her in with his arm around her waist. She looked up at him with a weak smile.  _Thank you_.

 _Don't mention it,_  he mouthed back.

Davik showed them the estate, finally entering the hangar. Carth's eyes were immediately skimming the ship.  _Freighter, Dynamic-class. Made on Transel, probably. Good ship. It might just be as fast as they say._

"You like her?" Carth snapped his eyes back to Davik, who was grinning. "She's my pride and joy – fastest ship in the Outer Rim!" He turned back, motioning to something near the ship's base. "Note the state-of-the-art security system I've installed here. The shields are impregnable – code-locked. But, unfortunately, she isn't fast enough to outrun the autoguns on the Sith blockade, and she's been grounded." He turned back to them, eyes glinting. "Of course, I'm working on acquiring the proper launch codes, which should allow my operations to return to their previous capacity. Come now . . . let us move on."

Anna all-but blacked out through the rest of the tour, her mind on the defenses surrounding the  _Hawk_. She woke to find herself being parceled into a guest room with Canderous and Carth. "These are your accommodations. The slave quarters are just down the hall. If you need anything during your stay – food, a massage – please feel free to call upon them," Davik was saying. Anna blinked.  _A massage would be nice_. "If the background check pans out, you will be . . .  _invited_  to join the Exchange. You _will_  stay in these rooms for the next few days – as my  _guest_." There was an emphasis on the word "guest" in his tone that left little to the imagination of its actual meaning. "If you are found outside this wing, my security team will deal with you harshly. I will return once your background check is complete. Please, make yourself comfortable. Come, Calo."

Davik left, Calo following at his heels with one more, studious glance at Anna. She swallowed.

"Okay, we're in. Now we just have to figure out how to get past the security on the  _Hawk_."

Well, there's the problem," Carth argued. "You heard him! How are we supposed to get past the security without his codes?"

Anna rubbed her forehead, looking up when she felt both their eyes on them. "What?"

"So far  _you've_  been the brains," Carth replied pointedly. Anna glared at him.

"Yeah, you know what? I have been. I've figured  _everything_  out," she snapped, tiredness making her cranky. "So you know what I'm going to do?"

"What?" Carth snapped back.

"I'm going to go and get a frakkin'  _massage_ , and I'll come back when I figure something out." Without waiting for an affirmative or negative reply, Anna stalked out. Carth stared after her.

Canderous laughed.

"Something funny, Mandalorian?" he snapped. Canderous shrugged.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous of that masseuse."

Carth glared at him, flipping on his communicator.

#

Bastila jerked out of meditation in their Upper City hideout as the comm chirped. Mission answered.

"Hey, Carth."

:: _Hey, Mish. We're in Davik's_.:: Carth sounded irritated about something. :: _Waiting on Anna to finish up her . . ._ business _._ ::

Mission raised an eyebrow as Bastila sat down at the table. "Business?"

:: _Fool woman's getting a damned massage. We're stuck up here in the middle of hostile territory and she's getting a damned massage!_ ::

Mission snickered. "She has been stressed recently, you know. How's the newlywed life going?"

:: _It'd be better if we didn't have Ordo breathing down our necks –_ ::

:: _I'm standing right here, Onasi._ ::

:: _Yeah, and you standing there isn't –_ ::

"Carth," Bastila inserted. He fell silent. "What is the status of the  _mission_?"

:: _Once Anna gets done her . . ._ massage _. . . we'll be heading out to try and find the codes to break down the_ Hawk _'s security. Then we'll comm you when we're ready to fly back._ ::

"Keep us updated, Carth."

:: _Yeah. As long as Anna doesn't get distracted by the next shiny thing we pass, we should be fine._   _Onasi out._ ::

Mission chuckled as the comm fell silent. "You know, it really isn't surprising that –"

"Anna should have remained focused on the task at hand, Mission, not been distracted by such basal concerns," Bastila replied. Mission raised her hands.

"Sheesh. All right. She isn't a Jedi, Bastila. I don't know why you treat her like one."

Bastila almost replied, almost commented that she was probably  _almost_  a Jedi ( _again_ , her brain added in an evil little whisper), but restrained herself. "Yes, I suppose you're right, Mission. I must remember that not everyone is held to the standard I hold myself to."

Bastila retreated to her meditation spot again, closing her eyes.

This mission was getting harder the longer it went on. And it was only going to last longer.

#

"Republic, you fought in the Mandalorian Wars, didn't you?" Canderous leaned back in his chair, inspecting his spare energy cell. Carth nodded from where he was pacing. "So we might have faced each other in combat. What battles were you in?"

Carth shrugged. "I try not to think about them. The horrors of war are not something I want to relive."

"Horrors?" Canderous scoffed. "My people know only the glory of battle. I'm disappointed. I thought a warrior like you would understand."

"Warrior? I'm not a warrior. I'm a soldier. Warriors attack and conquer and prey on the weak. Soldiers defend and protect innocents – usually from warriors."

"Heh. Nice speech. Bet you tell yourself that every night so you can sleep. But I accept who and what I am. I don't have to justify it with words – victory in battle is enough justification."

"Justification through victory, eh? So what happens when you lose? You know, like against us."

Canderous glared at him. "Lost? You had us outnumbered five to one. You had more ships, more troops, more supplies,  _and_  the Jedi on your side. And yet we made your precious Republic tremble before we fell."

It was Carth's turn to scoff, and he wasted no time in it. "Nice speech. I'm sure you tell yourself that every night so you can sleep. The war's over, Ordo. You—"

Anna burst back into the room, making them jump. "Get your stuff," she barked with hardly an explanation, hair sloppily pulled up on top of her head and still smelling slightly of some exotic oil. She grabbed her own bag and threw it over her shoulder before realizing that they weren't moving. "What?"

"You done, your highness?" Carth asked. She glared at him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am." She pulled Carth to his feet. "Davik's old pilot pissed him off. Man by the name of Hudrow. Apparently he got caught trying to steal some spice, and with the Sith blockade he doesn't get any special treatment. He's locked up in the torture chambers, but he probably knows the security codes."

"How did you find all this out?" Canderous asked. Anna grinned.

"I got the slave talking while he was massaging. Apparently Hudrow's fate's the most interesting thing that's happened for the past month or so. So let's head to the torture chambers and we'll get the codes, and get the hell out of here." Without waiting for further argument, she marched back out the door.


	13. Chapter 13

The apartment had been in silence for hours. Bastila meditated; Mission played some sort of weird solitaire game with her Pazaak deck; Zaalbar snoozed in one of the corners. T3 continued to busy himself with checking and rechecking their small amount of gear, packed into a beat-up, ratty duffel-bag and tied into an old, moth-eaten blanket that he'd found in a dark corner of the apartment.

Bastila hated this. She hadn't spent much time with R—Anna, she had to break herself of the habit—on the  _Spire_. She told herself it was because she was afraid that her presence could trigger an override of the Council's memory block and put an end to their plan - though that seemed unlikely if she was indeed suffering from severe amnesia.

The other was that she  _still_  intimidated her.

To say that she had been frightened when the Council asked her to capture Revan was an understatement. She had never met Revan personally before their confrontation on the then-Sith flagship, which was why she'd had no idea that the leader hailed as a man was anything but. Revan - the name Revan - was a legend, even if the figure was still alive, and she had fought hard to keep her identity secret from nearly everyone. And there were enough Jedi that had left for the wars that, while they may have known that Revan had instigated the exodus, he - or, rather,  _she_  - remained an intentionally mysterious figure, partially by her own design and partially by the Jedi Council's resolve to ignore all inquiries about her.

But even before she left for the Mandalorian Wars, reports said that Revan had been larger-than-life figure, irrepressible, and confident enough to be cocky, and that was merely what the Jedi Council deigned to tell the others. And when Revan had become a Sith the reports indicated little change, except that she was a little colder, a little more distant, a little more . . . dark.

Anna was no different. Bastila could see no difference between stories of the Revan she had captured and the Anna she now was forced to place her trust in, except that Anna might be kinder to strangers than Revan may have been. Unfortunately, Bastila had never known much of Revan's past before her fall, so that was questionable.

And somehow, it seemed to go both ways. Anna seemed intimidated - if that was the right word to use - by Bastila, whether it was just that the programmed smuggler in her had an inherent distrust of anyone claiming to use 'juice' to get things done (Bastila would never admit it, but that comment had made her want to laugh) or because some little, tiny part of her memory screamed that Bastila tried to kill her before.

But she seemed nicer than she should have, albeit in a perpetual state of marginal confusion. Some of the concerns that she'd voiced to Bastila – her stillness in her match with Bendak, her continuous, almost unconscious efforts to throw vibros through enemies and then suffering surprise when she wondered why they wouldn't come back – worried her. She probably had no idea that throwing a lightsaber had been on of Revan's favorite tricks (Bastila had learned of that from Vrook) or that she had been a cold, calculating, calm duelist (Vander knew that from her training on Dantooine). In the Sith base, she'd seen the same calm calculation she'd seen in the dueling ring, and it frightened her.

Kavar and Vander's orders were precise and direct. If the  _Endar Spire_  was not attacked, she would wait for Anna to begin asking questions about her condition or doing something with the Force before promptly returning to Dantooine and submitting her to the Council again. If the  _Spire_  was attacked, and they crashed landed (together or separately) she was to find Anna as quickly as possible, determine a way to get off the planet, and return to Dantooine – they assumed that her powers would naturally manifest themselves under duress, leading to questions. It was a dangerous gambit they were playing, but both Vandar and Kavar were some of the few strategic minds thought to be able to outwit Revan herself, and when they were paired together . . .

Bastila had assumed that Anna would immediately – out of respect or whatever – let Bastila resume charge. That hadn't happened. Instead, Anna was ignoring both her  _and_  Carth's positions and had taken charge herself – walking into Davik's estate and  _choosing_  companions to accompany her, not to accompany Bastila, was proof enough of that. Mission and Zaalbar looked to her, not to Bastila or Carth, for guidance, and now that she was established as T3's master he did as well. And she had little doubt that Canderous would join them at least until they reached Dantooine, and he would  _certainly_  respect Anna far more than Bastila or Carth. She scowled.

It would make for some awkward explanations to the Council when they reached the Enclave. And Force forbid that Mission was right about Carth and Anna. That would just be one more thing that –

Something twinged in Bastila's mind.  _Was that_. . . it was the same thing she'd felt when she'd boarded Revan's flagship, when she'd stood near the Sith Lord . . .

She stood. "Malak is here, on the fleet above Taris."

That was sufficient. Mission's game ceased, Zaalbar sat upright, and T3 let off a series of chirps. "What does that mean?" Mission asked. Bastila gave her credit – she looked scared.

"I do not . . ." Something else twinged, and Bastila doubled over, grabbing onto the workbench for support. Mission immediately was by her side.

"What's wrong? Is he doing so—"

 _Oh, he is_ not _doing what I think he's doing . . ._

"Get our gear!" Bastila directed, pointing. Zaalbar and the droid grabbed the small bundles. "We have to leave the building!"

"Why are we –" Mission's question was cut off as Bastila palmed open the door and motioned for them to move. The comm chirped as they fled into the hallway.

"What is it, Carth?" Bastila snapped, calm gone in the face of overwhelming pain.

:: _Anna just hit the floor. What's going on?_ ::

"I don't know, but you must hurry. Malak is here, above the planet. He's doing something, but I don't know what."

There was a pregnant pause from the other hand. When Carth spoke again, his voice possessed urgency rather than confusion. :: _She's up. We're almost to the hangar._ ::

The apartment shook, something stabbed into her stomach, and Bastila knew for sure what Malak was doing. She immediately threw up walls around herself, and the pain subsided. "Carth, you have to hurry. Malak's bombing the planet, we don't have much time!"

:: _He's doing WHAT?_ :: Canderous' voice snapped in the background on the comm.

 _"_ What do you –"

"There's no time!" Bastila snapped to both Mission and the comm link. "Hurry up!"

:: _We're on our way_.:: Carth's voice carried an even stronger hint of panic than before. Bastila grimaced. Force knew what he was thinking.

Bastila hurried the others to the elevator. Being on an exposed walkway would be dangerous, but it would be far worse to be trapped in a collapsed apartment.

#

"What's Malak doing?" Anna gasped, doubling over, arms wrapped around her midsection. Her shoulders jerked in a hard retch like the first several times she'd done so, though the first lurch had already gotten rid of the little food she'd eaten that day. Carth frowned, helping to steady her. _  
_

"Bastila says he's bombing the planet."

She pulled herself off the wall, face drawn and white from pain. "We have to hurry. Hopefully Davik hasn't realized this yet and we still have time to get to the ship before he does."

The first blast hit as they entered the hangar, Anna leaning heavily on Carth. From the other side two men were running for the ship. Anna swallowed, recognizing one of them.  _Nord._

"Damn those Sith!" Davik yelled to his companion over the onslaught. "They're bombing the whole planet! I knew they'd turn on us sooner or – well, look!" He caught sight of the trio, and weapons were immediately in hand on both sides. Anna's hand clenched on her blaster, knuckles slowly turning white, but didn't draw it. She staggered a little, and Carth readjusted his weight slightly to adjust for it. "Thieves in the hangar. So, you figured you'd just steal my ship and leave me high and dry while the Sith turn the planet into dust?"

". . . the plan originally  _didn't_  involve the Sith turning the planet into dust," Anna commented. "But it's a nice touch."

"I'll take care of them, Davik." Calo's eyes – she thought – were trained on Canderous. He lifted his massive repeating blaster threateningly in reply. "I've been looking forward to this."

"Make it quick. The Sith mean business."

Canderous fired first, blaster sending shots both directions. Carth was firing from behind her, and Anna quickly opted for her own blaster, shooting directly at Nord.

She fell back next to the others as they tried to avoid the incoming blaster fire and ignore the ceiling tiles getting blasted in around them. "Now what?" She yelled in Canderous' direction. "You got any more bright ideas?"

"You're the brains of this operation, princess, not me!"

It felt like someone was taking a knife to her abdomen, and she doubled again, dropping her blaster. A hit slammed into her arm while she was distracted, and she yelped and collapsed. Carth aimed and fired a single shot at Davik – it was a lucky hit, and the crime lord dropped as the shot managed to find its way between his eyes. There was a tense silence broken only by the sounds of falling ceiling tiles. Anna looked up – Calo was holding something over his head, blinking red light marking it as a thermal detonator. She swallowed.

"You may have me outnumbered and outgunned, but if I'm going down I'm taking you with me!" he proclaimed.

"Shoot him," Anna ordered, voice an octave higher from pain.

A blast from the Sith fleet collapsed the ceiling on him and the trio glanced up, slightly surprised. Anna blinked. "Thank you?"

"Come on!" Carth pulled her to her feet as Canderous sprinted for the ship. "The Mandalorian might fly off without us!"

"I doubt that." Gritting her teeth, Anna grabbed the communicator as they sprinted across the collapsing hangar and up the ramp. "Bastila!"

:: _This is Bastila._ ::

"Are you safe?"

:: _We're outside the apartment, by the escape pod landing area. They are only aiming at the buildings so far._ ::

"We've got the ship." Carth sprinted for the cockpit as Anna found the med bay. Using her teeth, she tore the wrapper off a kolto syringe, almost collapsing as another knife stabbed into her stomach. "I got shot in the arm. We should be there shortly."

:: _Please hurry – I don't know how long it will be before they aim at the walkways._ ::

"Copy."

"Canderous, get on the guns!" Carth yelled, voice echoing from the cockpit. Anna was almost bowled over by him as he ran for the turbolift.

She stumbled to the chairs in the main hold, collapsing down and holding her head.

#

Bastila stared up at the circling fleet, firing incessantly on any building they could find. Their apartment had collapsed not long after they escaped, and it had been ten minutes since Anna had contacted them. Mission was sobbing – Zaalbar had long pulled the girl to him, burying her face in his fur while rocking her slowly back and forth on their feet. She wanted to scream, to swear, to go and kill Malak with her bare hands – but that was the path to the dark side, and she wouldn't take those steps.

She closed her eyes, and reached out through her bond with Re—Anna. They weren't dead, as she had feared though she was in immense pain; they were moving closer. The  _hum_  of a ship caught her attention, and she opened her eyes as a flattened, rounded, red-and-silver ship worked itself level with their platform. The ramp dropped with a clang, and Anna stood framed in the doorway.

"Come on!" she yelled over the hum of the Sith fleet and their own purloined ship. "Get in here!"

Bastila pushed Mission and Zaalbar past her, letting T3 roll up the ramp dragging their gear. She didn't start up until they were nearly inside, ducking flying debris as their apartment building collapsed on itself. When she reached Anna, she noticed the other woman's arm resting in a blue-colored sling, other hand holding her side. The ship started to pull away from the walk.

"What—"

"How many do you think we can save?" Anna gasped.

Bastila stared at her incredulously. "What—"

"We have to be able to save  _some_  of them –"

A blow from the Sith fleet impacted the place where Bastila and the others had stood seconds earlier. Bastila reached around Anna and slammed her hand on the button, closing the ramp. "We must focus on our own—"

"A fat lot of good you gods-damned Jedi are," Anna snapped, almost doubling over for a second. "Just letting an entire planet die without consequence, without aid, and you can stand there and look at me and tell me that  _you'll_  be able to sleep tonight?"

Bastila put a hand on Anna's shoulder, stopping her tirade. "There was nothing we could have done, Anna. We cannot take on the Sith fleet and force them to stop this–"

The look on her face chillingly reminded her of something Revan may have worn. "We could have. We could have not crash landed on this gods-forsaken piece of rock."

And with that, Anna stumbled back to the main hold, toward where Mission needed her. Bastila stared after her. That hadn't been anger or hatred.

She blamed herself for losing an entire planet, because she had been unable to do the job the Jedi had 'hired' her for, which would have been impossible to do once a Sith battle fleet had them surrounded. Part of Bastila wanted to run screaming after her, telling her that it was  _her_  own fault, telling her that it wasn't her fault the  _Spire_  fell, telling her that . . . that she was . . .

Bastila stood, frozen in place. Revan was not supposed to act like that. Revan was supposed to be . . . evil.

 _This trip is going to be absolutely horrible,_  she thought to herself.  _I won't do much on it, I don't think. But I can do something now_.

She found a deserted dormitory on one side of the ship and knelt down, pushing out through the Force to the fighters attacking them.  _I can make sure we don't die._


	14. Chapter 14

Bastila stumbled back into the main hold, collapsing at the table. Mission and Anna were already there, quietly talking, Anna gently clasping Mission's hands. Her face was still pale and drawn in pain, but her lips were pulled in a taut smile. "— looks at her and says, 'Well, what else is it good for?'"

They chuckled, Mission's face still streaked with tears.

"Are you telling her –"

"Don't worry, Bastila, they're perfectly clean." Anna waved dismissively, look of pain disappearing almost immediately. "What happened to you? You look like you're ready to collapse."

Bastila waved her off. "I was using my battle meditation to ensure our safe escape."

"Ah. About time it came in handy."

Bastila slammed her hand onto the table. The duo jumped. "What is it? Do you take some sort of pleasure in tormenting and undermining me?"

Anna's eyes were somewhere between wide open and half-cocked skeptically. She was suddenly at a loss for words.

But she recovered quickly. "Listen, sister," she started. "I might not trust you, and I might not trust the Jedi, but I didn't leave you on that sh—on Taris." Anna rephrased the last part of her statement as she glanced over at Mission. "So don't throw a fit on my accord."

"I am  _not_  throwing a fit! I am –"

Carth emerged from the cockpit, cutting off the argument. "How're you doing, Mish?"

Mission shrugged, sniffling. Anna put her arm around her shoulders.

Heavy footfalls announced Canderous' approach to the hold. The Mandalorian collapsed in one of the chairs, promptly propping his feet up on the table. Disgusted, Bastila whacked them back down. "Were you raised in a barn?"

Canderous raised his hands. "Apologies, your highness." He grinned lopsidedly at her. "Don't want to offend your sensitive tastes."

She scowled at him, but didn't reply. Carth sat down after grabbing water from the dispenser, pushing a glass over to Anna. She handed it to Mission. "Where did you set course for, Carth?" Bastila asked.

"Anna thought you probably needed to check in with the Jedi, and since Malak's probably got all routes from Taris to the Core worlds covered – just in case – she had the idea to head to Dantooine."

Bastila turned her suspicious eyes on Anna. "And just  _how_  do you know about the Enclave on Dantooine?"  _If she says_ one thing _about it . . ._

Anna shrugged. "Doesn't take a genius to figure out why there's so many damn Jedi all over the place." She leaned back, still rubbing Mission's shoulders. "'Sides, I figured we'd only be there a little bit. The Jedi are probably going to usurp us and the ship for whatever purpose they have for you, which means we may all be stuck together for the near future. Except for you, Canderous."

He shrugged. "Eh. I might stick around. Been a long time since I've had something to do."

"I would prefer if –" Bastila sighed, stopping herself. "Either way, we should be safe from Malak on Dantooine, if only for a short while."

" _Safe_? You saw what –" Carth swallowed with a sideways glance at Mission, crying into Anna's neck again. "—what. Just happened."

"Even the Sith would think twice before attacking Dantooine. The Jedi presence there is powerful, and many of the most powerful Masters of the Order are there."

"That's all well and good, but I you saw what good Jedi mumbo-jumbo is when . . . against an entire fleet of ships." Even Canderous seemed to be softening his words and skirting around Taris. Anna sighed, rubbing Mission's neck as she pressed closer into her fiberweave.

"We need to regroup," Anna said. "Malak will find us eventually. Dantooine is only several hours from Taris – we need a  _plan_. As soon as he learns that a ship escaped, and that it was carrying  _you_ , he'll be on us like a fatworm on a Hutt's ass." The simile garnered a chuckle from everyone except Bastila. She grimaced. "Jacinta, Bastila, what the hell do I have to do?"

"I will be in one of the dormitories . . .  _meditating_ ," Bastila said poisonously. "Please come for me when we reach Dantooine. I will need to disembark to discuss . . . recent events . . . with the Council." Bastila retreated.

Anna raised her hands as soon as a door closed somewhere in the ship. "What do I have to  _do_  to get even a giggle out of that girl?"

Canderous raised an eyebrow. "Well, I could suggest –"

Anna pointed threateningly at him. "You suggest what I think you're suggesting and I'll shove that blaster of yours so far up your ass you'll be shooting out your mouth." Carth, having an excellent sense of timing, had just taken a drink. He spluttered, coughing. "Y'okay there, flyboy?"

He waved her off.

"Anna?" Mission said, looking up at her. She nodded.

"We'll take the other dorm that Bastila's not in. Come on." Anna gently walked her out of the hold, Zaalbar following them to lend a hand with his friend. Canderous leaned back, watching Carth watch Anna disappear.

"How long you known her?"

"Hm? Who? Bastila?"

"No. Her." Canderous jerked his thumb at the corridor Anna had just disappeared into. Carth shrugged.

"They brought her in as a consultant on the  _Spire_  about four days before we crashed on Taris, and then the two or so weeks we were stranded there . . . so almost two and a half weeks."

Canderous laughed. Hard. Carth glared at him. "What's that for?"

"She has you  _whipped_. In  _two weeks_."

Carth's glare got harder, and he slammed his glass on the table and retreated for the cockpit, Canderous still chuckling in the hold.

Part of him  _really_  wished Anna would let him kill the damn Mandalorian.

#

The ship was safely in hyperspace. They would be at Dantooine early the next morning, and the ship had only gotten a few hits in the scuffle. Canderous' cackling over the comm when he was shooting was a little creepy, but he was brutally efficient.

 _To be expected from a Mandalorian_.

Carth sighed, getting some water from the dispenser. Anna, Mission, and Zaalbar had disappeared – they'd been in hyperspace for at least four hours, and he hadn't seen them since. Canderous was banging around in the engine room – or at least he figured it was Canderous – and Bastila was probably still meditating. It had probably let them get away from the fleet . . . but it'd been stupid. They would figure out why a small ship, even with the codes, hadn't been destroyed by their fighters. It could only have been Bastila.

Quiet steps sounded from the garage, a few words floating through the halls. He braced himself as the steps continued, half expecting it to be Canderous. Instead, he heard Anna's voice behind him, almost a whisper.

"Can you get me a glass?"

He turned as she limped into the room, collapsing down at the main table. Carth quickly poured some water into a glass and handed it to her. "Here."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence, Anna's face stretched in pain. Carth finally asked. "What's wrong?"

"I . . ." Anna swallowed. "I'm not sure. It was like . . ." she rubbed her eyes with her palms. "Like when Malak was bombing Taris, I—I felt it."

"When we were on the ship?"

"Yeah."

"You hid it. At least once we were on the ship." He remembered what she'd looked like in Davik's estate - it wasn't difficult to tell then that she was in pain. But once they'd been fleeing Taris it'd seemed like the pain had never even existed, not even with her blaster-injured arm. She was still wearing the sling, arm resting heavily inside the fabric.

"Mission needed me."

"But you didn't really even look –"

"Carth, Malak was hurting Mission. I didn't have the time to be in pain."

He sighed heavily, looking down into his own water quietly. "Where is she?"

"Mission? She cried herself to sleep a few minutes ago. Zaalbar's with her." Anna stared down at the table. "But I . . . it's like the pain's hitting me tenfold now."

"Has it ever happened before?"

She shrugged. "Like I would know."

"Oh. Right." They were silent for a while, Anna massaging her temples, Carth watching her worriedly. She still looked nauseated. "What does it feel like?"

"Imagine the worst migraine you've ever had. Then imagine that every bomb getting dropped is someone driving a knife into your stomach, twisting, and pulling out. Repeatedly."

Carth winced. "That sounds . . . bad."

"Tell me about it." She shook her head. "It's not happening now, but it's like the ghost of the pain is attacking me."

It had to be bad. She'd only winced when she'd gotten her lung stabbed through, only been dizzy when she nearly wrecked a swoop at top speed, and fought repeatedly on a 'little' head wound. She tried hard to not seem weak . . . even now. It made her even more Jedi than his suspicions had previously screamed at him.

"Carth?"

Her soft voice pulled him out of his muse. "Yeah, beautiful?"

"You've . . . you've seen two planets razed by the Sith, and even more by the Mandalorians. How . . . how do you move on from that?"

"Why do you think I've moved on?"

"I want to curl up in the storage room over there and never move again. But you're piloting a ship, and still serving in the Republic fleet, and . . . and I never want to look out a starship window again."

Carth sighed. Anna looked up to catch him tapping his fingers on the table, staring down at it. "You push forward because, if you don't, their deaths will have been in vain."

Anna echoed his sigh, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Yeah. I . . . I guess so." She swallowed. "Do you think anyone could have . . . Zelka, or the Beks, or the people in the Undercity . . ." She left the question hanging. Carth answered it with a simple headshake.

"There wasn't a building over two meters left standing. The rubble alone would have crushed them."

Anna pursed her lips. "I . . . everything we did, Carth. The few people we helped . . ."

"They didn't spend their last days in misery." Carth was surprised how Jedi-like he thought he sounded. "They couldn't have asked for more than that."

"I guess not. But . . ." She chewed on her lip. "Why? Why did Taris have to die? For  _one_  Jedi?"

"I . . ." Carth had seen the  _Leviathan_  when they were trying to evade the Sith battle group on the  _Spire_ , and he knew Saul had experience in killing worlds. He would be lying to say the first bombs had been a surprise. "The ship leading the attack was the _Leviathan_. It wasn't surprising that they bombed the planet into submission."

Anna stared at her glass. "The  _Leviathan_. That's the Sith flagship . . . the one Karath is on."

Carth swirled water around in his glass. "Yeah. I suspect . . . I suspect I knew that the attack was imminent, as soon as Malak lost his patience."

"How does he sleep with himself?"

"Very well, I would suppose. Bastard probably enjoys it now."

Anna swallowed. "Carth, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What—what did you lose on Telos?"

Carth sighed heavily, staring at his water. "I . . . don't want to talk about it."

"Then neither do I."

They sat in silence, the  _hum_  of the ship's engines and the sound of Canderous beating the blazes out of something in the engine room the only noises.

"Do you think we'll be safe on Dantooine?" Anna finally asked. "At least for a little while?"

"I hope so."

#

"Carth, toss up the hydrospanner." Carth tossed it, and Anna caught it from her perch on the other side of the  _Hawk_. "No, no T3, patch  _that_."

They'd safely landed on Dantooine, and Bastila was off with the Council. So Carth, Anna, and T3 were going over the ship, trying to see what damage it had sustained – if any – during the escape from Taris. Anna and T3 were currently making sure the engines were a hundred percent on the starboard side, and Carth was perched and trying to re-weld an unimportant panel on the port side. Mission and Zaalbar were poking around the landing dock, since the Jedi started glaring at them whenever they tried to venture further into the Enclave, and Canderous was in the nearby store arguing with the manager – something about scopes and having 'the worst energy cells this side of the universe.'

"How's the engine look?" he called over. Anna shrugged.

"It's only a little superficial damage. I think our welding expert's gonna have to fix it."

Carth was about to retort when someone interrupted them. "Anna." They looked down. Bastila stood near the ramp, hands on her hips. "Whatever are you doing up there?"

"Routine maintenance. Don't get your panties in a knot," Anna answered. Bastila flushed. "What's up?"

"I've spoken briefly with the Council. They wish to speak with you."

"Heh. An audience with the Jedi Council?" Carth raised the visor of his mask a little further. "That's pretty unusual for a non-Jedi. What's this about?"

"I cannot tell you, Carth." Bastila returned her eyes to Anna. "They ask that you come at once. I will lead you to the Council chambers."

Anna sighed. "T3, you keep going over the ship. And be  _careful_. I don't want you falling off."

" _Of course._ " T3 poked at the panel in question as Anna stood, brushing grease off her hands. It left a black streak on her gray slacks.

"You coming, Carth?"

Carth shrugged. "I wasn't invited."

"Consider yourself invited, flyboy. Come on."

They rode back down the lift, joining Bastila at the base of the ramp. Anna had a smudge of grease across her nose and cheek, and Bastila tried to rub it off. Anna pushed her away. "Bastila – don't touch my face."

"You should –" Bastila started disapprovingly. Anna glared at her.

"I've been  _fixing_ a _ship_. I'm bound to have gunk all over me, and the Council can deal with it."

Bastila gave a disgruntled snort and turned on her heel, heading back into the Enclave. Anna waved at Mission. "Make sure T3 doesn't fall off the ship, guys."

Mission waved back. "You got it!"

Anna could feel eyes training on her as they walked through the Enclave. She swallowed, unconsciously stepping a little closer to Carth. He seemed to notice. "You okay?"

Anna nodded. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I just don't like getting stared at."

Carth looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. "And yet you were the swoop champion and the dueling champion and –"

"Shut up, flyboy." He half expected a punch to the arm, which never came. "I don't like being . . .  _studied_."

Their conversation stopped as Bastila halted them in front of a large, open doorway. "Carth, I must ask you to stay here."

Carth opened his mouth to argue. Anna held up her hand. "It's okay, Carth. I'm sure we'll be fine."

She didn't look too comfortable leaving him there either, but her expression indicated that she was more interested in avoiding another fight with Bastila than her own comfort. Carth nodded.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll wait here." Carth crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorjamb as the two women walked into the room, suspicions growing exponentially.

Between her going down as soon as Taris started to be attacked and everything else he'd seen on that pit of a world, and now the Jedi talking to her . . . something was up. And by 'up,' he meant surpassing-the-atmosphere up. And he didn't like it.

Meanwhile, Anna drew to a halt next to Bastila in front of the four people alone in the large, circular room. Two older men – one of them more grumpy-looking than the other – stood with an older, violet-colored Twi'lek and a . . . actually, Anna had never seen one before, so she wasn't going to bother guessing. She swallowed, knitting her fingers together behind her back.  _I do NOT like this_.

The Twi'lek spoke even as she was struggling to hide her issues. "You must be the one Bastila has spoken about. We have been discussing a . . . rather special case . . . involving you. I am Zhar, a member of the Jedi Council." The Twi'lek motioned at the others. "With me are Masters Vrook, Vandar, and Dorak, the Chronicler of our Academy."

Anna's eyes met Vrook's, and she quickly turned away. For some reason, the man did  _not_  like her. She swallowed, resuming her stoic expression. "This might be off-topic, but I was under the impression that the  _Council_  was on Coruscant."

Zhar chuckled. "The High Council is on Coruscant, yes, but we are the Council in charge of the training facility here on Dantooine. Now, Bastila tells us that you are strong in the Force – and we are considering you for Jedi training."

She mutely blinked several times. Vrook took up speaking instead. "Master Zhar speaks out of turn. We require indisputable proof of this . . .  _affinity_  . . . before we would even consider accepting you for training."

"Proof?" Hearing Bastila stand up for her was one thing, but she would have preferred it occur somewhere  _useful_. "Surely you can feel the strength of the Force in this woman – and I have already related the events on Tar—"

"Perhaps it was mere  _luck_ , Padawan," Vrook interrupted.

"We both know there is no luck – there is the Force." The small green individual spoke. "We can all feel Kyjjl's power, though it is wild and remains untamed. Can we safely ignore it now?"

"Training is long and difficult, even for a child. How much more difficult will it be for her?" Vrook motioned at her. Anna swallowed again. He didn't like her, but she agreed with him.

"What if I don't . . .  _want_  this?" Anna asked. "Why am I a special case? Why is there  _any_ case at all? I mean . . .  _sithspit_! Shouldn't the Jedi on Coruscant have caught all this 'special this' and 'strong in the Force' that when you all  _hired_  me for the _Spire_  mission? And what  _was_  the  _Spire_  mission? An entire  _planet_  is dead, and . . ." Anna rubbed the back of her head, suddenly painfully aware of where she was. ". . . I don't get it."

There was a brief pause. "You must understand that this is a difficult proposition – for all of us," Dorak said. "Your case is a . . . _unique_  one – we do not usually accept adults for training. Your strength in the Force is, however, something that we cannot overlook."

"I agree with Master Dorak," Vandar added. "Many of our pupils have left the Order, either to join the Sith or to fall in front of them. We need  _recruits_  to stand against Malak, and with Revan dead –"

"How can you speak with such certainty? What if Revan is  _not_ , and –"

"We must discuss this more fully . . .  _in private_." Vandar delivered a pointed look toward Bastila and Anna. "Bastila, you and Kyjjl may go. This is a matter for the Council to discuss."

"As you wish," Bastila said, bowing before grasping Anna's forearm. "Come, we should return to the  _Hawk_."

Carth straightened up as Anna and Bastila reemerged. He could tell Anna was stewing – her hands were balled into fists and jammed into her pockets, shoulders almost poetically stiff, jaw set in a tense line. Bastila's hand was wrapped firmly around her arm. "What's wrong?"

Anna grumbled something, pulling out of Bastila's grip and stalking back toward the ship. Carth glared at the Jedi and hurried after her, amazed that she was moving that quickly.

They caught up to her as she stormed back up the walkway of the ship and found her throwing tools from the workbench into a bucket. "What the hell is going on?" Carth asked, watching as Anna stepped around the parked swoop and dropped the bucket with a  _clang_.

"Why don't you ask her – she seems to know everything!" Anna snapped, motioning to Bastila with a wrench. Carth turned. Bastila stood with her hands on her hips, framed by the open ramp.

"I do not  _claim_  to know  _anything_  except what the Council has told me!" Bastila protested. "And by storming out of there like a –"

"What if I don't want to be a Jedi?" Anna snapped back. "What if I am the  _one person_  in your perfect little universe that  _doesn't_ want to be running around the galaxy being told what to do by a bunch of crotchety fassa—"

"Wait,  _they_  want to make you a  _Jedi_?" Carth asked, pointing back in the direction of the Council then back at Anna. She grumbled, banging something on the swoop.

"They are not  _sure_  yet," Bastila answered. "They are contemplating it. The power that you have, Anna – it needs  _training_. Their decision will be for the greater good – both for you  _and_  for the galaxy."

"Greater good, smater good," Anna muttered, slamming something closed on the bike.

"You can't treat it like that! It – not having control of the Force is dangerous. You need to be taught that control, to—"

"This conversation is  _done_ , Bastila," Anna hissed through clenched teeth. To Carth's surprise, Bastila scurried off.

"You're too hard on her," Carth said quietly. Anna pulled open another panel.

"She walks into it, Carth," she answered. Apparently having located what she wanted, she started unscrewing something. "Besides, she's going to blindly  _follow_  whatever gods-damned 'decision' the Council comes to and I'm not going to have a choice whether or not I. Want. To. Be. A. Jedi." She punctuated the words by slapping something with her screwdriver.

Carth leaned on the other side of the bike. "Why?" Anna glared at him. "Listen, sister, I've spilled part of my life story, you should spit something back. What the hell is up with you and Jedi?"

Anna glared at him, but sighed. "You have a point, not that I would remember if I'd had a bad run-in or anything." She returned to the bike. "I don't  _hate_  the Jedi. In fact, being one wouldn't be half that bad. You get a weapon that can cut through basically anything, you have powers that make people piss themselves just through the power of suggestion, and you actually have the legitimate ability to walk up to someone, say you're a Jedi, and get  _something_  done. But I'm a  _smuggler_." She  _thwack_ ed something inside the bike. "I don't want people lording themselves over my head, telling me you-can't-do-this and don't-do-that any time I try to act like a normal person – look at Bastila!" She gestured to where the woman had been standing several minutes earlier. "She's almost afraid to  _laugh_ , and I don't think it's just her, I think it's laughter-is-the-path-to-the-dark-side or some such nonsense."

"I don't think it's that bad. Most Jedi work without direct guidance from the Council."

"Hmph. You heard Bastila before. Every time she doesn't know something it's 'we'll ask the Council' or 'this is a matter for the Council' or . . ." she sighed, standing and rubbing the back of her hand over her forehead, leaving another greasy streak. "I should apologize. I've been tense ever since we rescued her from Brejik."

She started towards the main hold. Carth drummed his fingers on the bike. First she was a security consultant for the Jedi. Then she was  _a_  major, if not  _the_  major reason they escaped Taris alive and  _not_  as prisoners of the Sith. And now the Jedi were rambling on about her "Force sensitivity" – something they  _should_  have picked up on long before now.

Yes, there was certainly something fishy going on.

Canderous wandered back onto the ship, still grumbling about energy cells. He targeted the workbench, grunting at the pilot in a sort of acknowledgment before pulling out the proper tools for sticking on a beam-splitter.

"You look more emotionally unstable than usual, Republic," Canderous finally commented. Carth answered him with a glare. "I see I'm right. What happened? Kyjjl turn you down?"

Carth's glare got more intense. "No, Ordo. They want to train her as a Jedi."

Canderous paused, then laughed. Carth thought he was starting to be able to bore holes through him. "Gonna have their hands full with that one."

Carth managed a chuckle. "Got that right."

T3, chortling through on his way to the underside of the ship, made a note that the duo had agreed on something.


	15. Chapter 15

Dinner was quiet that night.

They were checking out various settings on the synthesizer, which meant various dishes were getting passed around the table (mostly to Zaalbar). Anna made a mental note to get T3 to either clean or fix the stupid thing.

"What did they want to talk to you about?" Mission finally asked. Carth looked up from his plate, prepared to step in should anything get heated between Anna and Bastila again. Anna sighed, poking at something with her fork.

"They're discussing admitting me for Jedi training," she answered heavily.

There was a general pause. Mission finally spoke again. "Really? Wow! So I'm going to be friends with  _two_  Jedi?"

"That is only _if_  the Council accepts Anna for training," Bastila explained.

"But you don't want it, do you?"

Anna sighed again, poking something else. "Eh. I've weighed my options. We've probably attracted Malak's attention. A lightsaber can't hurt."

"There is more to –" Anna held up her fork, cutting Bastila off.

"I know, I  _know_. I'm being blunt about it." She shook her head. "This isn't over. Not –"

Something from the communications room down the hall beeped, and Anna disappeared before anyone could ask what it was. After several minutes, she returned, datapad in hand.

"Bad news, guys," she said. "This ship had a feed through the major Sith channels, so I've had the computer running them for any mention of ships, escaping, and Taris in the same general local." She cleared her throat. " _Lord Malak has indicated that a small freighter is the only ship rumored to have escaped the destruction of Taris. Be on the lookout for a Transel-made Dynamic-class freighter. Lord Malak wishes it and its passengers apprehended alive._ "

Anna stopped reading, and the room was silent. "He must have determined that I escaped the bombardment," Bastila finally said. "But I doubt he –"

Anna held up her hand, silencing her. " _The ship is believed to have belonged to the Exchange manager on Taris. Reports indicate that it was stolen by a Republic officer and an unidentified female, aided by a Mandalorian mercenary named Ordo to facilitate the escape of Jedi Bastila Shan_. That was from a different report, but it's still out there." She sighed. "The name and our identities aren't out there, but you two . . . it had to have been someone in Davik's."

Canderous grunted. "Yeah, probably. Doesn't surprise me that one of those worms survived."

"This is not a good sign," Bastila said. "It will make leaving Dantooine more difficult that it was before. The Council should be informed –"

"Don't worry, they will be." She dropped the datapad onto the table, walking back into the communications room. Carth silently followed her, glaring back at Canderous' suggestive whistle.

He found her at the main console, staring down at the reports. She addressed him without turning. "Have a seat."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't get this," Anna said quietly, staring blankly at the screen. "I-I'm just a smuggler." She paused, chewing on her lip as she quietly mulled over the fact that she knew nothing about herself past the  _Endar Spire_  attack. "I think."

"What if you  _aren't_  'just a smuggler'?"

Anna shrugged. "Then who am I? I'm not important; I didn't think I had any special talents until Bastila opened her mouth back on Taris and I still really don't; I'm not overly intelligent —"

"I'll argue with you on that one."

"I'm not physically impressive; I don't 'know' people . . . Hell! I'm not even sure who  _I_  am! I just know that the Sith are wrong and blow up planets because they  _can_  and don't let people live their lives the way they should be lived — and now, for some reason, they're talking about making me a gods-damned Jedi and I get the feeling that I don't have a choice in the matter."

Carth chuckled. Anna glared at him. "I can't imagine you taking this lying down."

She sighed, turning it into a small laugh. "Yeah. Maybe I just realized I can't fight all of them." There was brief silence again before Anna looked back down at the holonet stream. "Who could have escaped that?"

Carth shrugged, not even needing to ask what she meant. "You already said it had to be someone in Davik's estate . . . maybe the pilot?"

"We saved his ass, though. They could have found security feed tapes."

He nodded. "Those may have survived the bombardment." He stood, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's late, and we've had a long day. We should get some sleep."

Anna nodded. "Yeah. We . . . we probably should."

#

Admiral Saul Karath didn't have to turn to recognize the steps behind him. They were heavy, forceful – the steps of someone very determined, very volatile, and very not-to-be-trifled-with. He swallowed, turning to bow to Malak as the Dark Lord stopped.

"Our reports indicate that the Star Forge is operating at 200% capacity, my lord," he said.

"That is not what I am concerned about," Malak replied. Karath swallowed. "I am more interested in whether or not you have learned how Bastila escaped Taris."

"Yes, Lord Malak, and I have already sent out orders to watch for the vessel. We have an eyewitness, found alive when we scanned the wreckage. He is aboard, should you wish to speak with him."

Malak's eyes narrowed, and that was all the order Karath needed. "Follow me, Lord Malak."

There was a small conference room a few steps away from the bridge. Karath led him to it, describing the situation they found themselves in. "Preliminary reports indicate that Bastila was aided by Carth Onasi – a decorated war hero, commended many times during the Mandalorian Wars for his bravery."

"And you know this man?"

"He served under me, while I was still with the Republic. You could say I was his mentor."

"And the Mandalorian?"

"We know little more than his name and description, my lord." Karath palmed open the doors. A man in dark-tinted goggles, a turban-like hat, and blue overcoat was in the room, feet propped up on the table. He was cleaning his blaster. "This is Calo Nord. He was present when Carth and the Mandalorian escaped with the ship . . . apparently they left him for dead."

"I am surprised you are still alive," Malak said, scrutinizing him, his words falling far more harshly on the skills of his bombers, not the bounty hunter's. Karath closed the door behind them.

"I am hard to kill, Lord Malak," Calo answered, hardly pausing in his blaster routine.

"Calo has agreed to locate and capture Bastila for us – he charges a hefty fee, but his services are well worth it, I assure you."

"Her companions are nothing to me," Malak said, turning back to Calo. "But I want Bastila alive."

"There – there  _is_  more, Lord Malak. You will be interested in hearing what Calo has to say about Bastila's companions."

Malak's eyes narrowed again. "I trust you are not wasting my time, Admiral. I have urgent business to attend –"

"Calo retrieved this footage from Davik Kang's security cameras," Karath said quickly, handing the Sith a beat-up datapad. Malak played the footage, and Karath quietly watched for his reaction. With a cybernetic jaw judging his mood was difficult, and a successful, hasty retreat sometimes came down to seconds of warning and a fast reaction time.

Fortunately, Malak's eyes first registered shock. He replayed the tape. Several times. In silence.

Karath took a few steps back to the door. Even Calo looked slightly disconcerted.

"Did you . . .  _catch_  . . . this woman's name?" Malak finally growled.

"The name Davik used was 'Anna Galon,' Lord Malak, but I believe it was a pseudonym," Calo said.

"A pseudonym . . ." There was a long pause as Malak glared down at the datapad, finally dropping it onto the table. "I want this . . . woman . . . alive as well."

Without another word, Malak slammed his hand into the door controls, nearly pushing them through the wall, and stalked into the hallway. Karath swallowed.

 _Then it is_ , he thought.

Calo Nord was far more pragmatic and far less curious. "About my payment, Admiral?"

#

Anna woke with a start.

She'd fallen asleep in the communications room, head bent back onto the back of the chair. She was painfully cramped, and nearly collapsed as she tried to stand.

What the  _hell_  was that? First . . .  _things_ _-_ since they couldn't be dreams, because she'd been awake for them, and she  _refused_ to call them  _visions_  - of Bastila fighting Revan and now dreams of Revan and gods-damned Malak where  _she_  was Revan and . . . what the hell was next? Dreams of Zaalbar tap-dancing?

Anna staggered out to the main hold, where Canderous was fixing his shirt at the table. She slammed her hand on the caffa machine, trying not to eye whatever was connected to the massive biceps he usually sported for all to see.

"You look rough. Binge drinking?"

Anna groaned, opting to ignore the question. "Where is everyone?"

He shrugged. "Twi'lek's still asleep, don't know about the Wookiee. The Princess shot out of here a few minutes ago, and Onasi's outside looking like a kicked gizka. You might want to kick him a few more times, make sure it's for something good."

"Thanks, Canderous." Clutching her mug, she left just as Mission staggered out of what had been segregated as the women's dorm.

"Wha's going on?"

"Breakfast." Anna pointed, leaving down the ramp. Carth turned as she emerged.

"What the hell?" he immediately asked.

Anna gulped down some caffa. "Good morning to you too, flyboy."

"You look like  _hell_." Carth threw up his hands. "First Bastila runs out looking like death, and now you?"

Anna groaned again. "Did she say anything before she took off?"

"Just that you should go to the Council chambers as soon as you – she didn't seem well, and neither do you. Are you okay?"

This required more caffa. "I had a rough night."

Carth sighed. "I don't blame you. I don't think any of us slept well . . . except maybe Canderous. You ready?"

"Yeah." She waved him off, straightening her tunic before taking another drink. The back of her neck felt like it was on fire.

Bastila met them at the door after they made their way through the academy, silent in the early morning. "Carth, we must ask you to stay out here again." He scowled, but didn't argue.

Vandar didn't miss a beat. "Bastila has told us of a most . . .  _unusual_ development. She claims that you have shared a vision of Malak and Revan in the ruins here on Dantooine."

Anna blinked several times.

"These ruins are not new to us, but we believed them to merely be burial mounds – it appears that assumption was wrong." Dorak studied her reaction. Anna frowned.

". . . how would Bastila know if we shared a dream . . . vision . . . thing?" Anna asked.

"She says that she felt your presence within the dream, the presence she has felt within you ever since –"

"Master Vandar!" Vrook hissed.

"— since Taris," Vandar said deliberately, glaring at Vrook out of the corner of his eye. Anna frowned. "It is not unheard of – especially not between two people strong in the Force. Bastila has described this dream to us in detail. We feel it is more than a dream – it is a vision. The Force is acting through you, as it acts through Bastila."

"Great. I'm having  _visions_  now?" Anna groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"You and Bastila share both a powerful connection to the Force and to each other." Zhar seemed to feel sorry for her. "Connections such as this often develop between Master and student, but rarely does it occur this quickly."

"Whatever dangers lie ahead, we cannot ignore the destiny that has brought you and Bastila here to us. Together."

"So wait I'm . . . I'm  _bound_  to her?"

There was not enough caffa in the galaxy to prep her for this.

"In a way, yes. You are linked, as are your fates. Together, you may be able to stop Darth Malak and the Sith threat." Vandar seemed to note her discomfort, but did not comment on it.

Vrook almost immediately jumped into the conversation. "But do  _not_  place yourself into visions of glory and power! Such thoughts are the path to the dark side."

Anna was starting to notice that the phrase 'path to the dark side' merited a nod from any group of gathered Jedi. The Masters were no different. She rubbed her forehead again.  _Sithspit. Bastila._ Her mind was having problems figuring out any other words.

"The way of the light is long and difficult." Vrook scrutinized her, eyes narrowing. Anna rubbed tension out of her neck. "Are you prepared for such hardship?"

"I'm not going to say I'm ready for this," Anna finally croaked out. "And I'm certainly going to say that I don't like being strong-armed into this. But I have a feeling that I don't have a choice."

"You are correct that there is little choice in this matter – for you, or for us," Vandar said comfortingly. "We have lost too many Jedi in the war, whether to the dark side or to the Sith's lightsabers. The Jedi are hunted down, ambushed and assassinated wherever they are found." He sighed heavily. "It will be little time before they discover us here."

"Those who are not killed are turned to the dark side, pledging allegiance to the Sith . . . and to Malak."

Anna swallowed, a question weighing on her mind. "Why would they turn, if they know of . . . if they know of what the Sith have done?"

Vrook shook his head. "The lure of the dark side is difficult to resist." There was another general nod. "Malak's power grows as more planets fall like Telos and Taris."

Zhar shook his head. "If Malak is not stopped, the Republic will fall, and we will be hunted to extinction. The galaxy will enter centuries of darkness and tyranny not seen for millennia."

"The Council has decided that you and Bastila must investigate the ruins you dreamed of . . . once they deem you ready."

Dorak stepped in. "Perhaps there you will find some clue, some explanation, of how Revan and Malak were corrupted. And perhaps you will find a way to stop them."

Anna jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "We can probably head out right now. Give me a second to grab some –"

Vandar shook his head. "Perhaps you misunderstand us. You have a strong affinity for the Force. With the power you have comes great responsibility and great danger. You may deny what it is you are, but the Council cannot . . . and the Sith  _will_  not." Anna swallowed. "Your strength is a threat to him. In time he will learn of you, and you will be hunted down as the rest of us are. That is inevitable."

Anna wasn't sure she liked the idea of being a threat to Malak. She saw what happened to people that  _weren't_  a threat, and –

"Before we send you to investigate the ruins, you  _must_  be trained in the ways of the Jedi. You must be taught to resist the danger in yourself – or you are doomed to fail."

Anna pinched the bridge of her nose – hard. "Shab hut'unn," she muttered under her breath. "We don't have  _time_  for this. The longer we sit around here the closer Malak is to destroying another planet, and –"

"You must learn patience and discipline. The ruins are a place of corruption – the dark side is strong there, and –"

"Malak. Might. Destroy. Another. Planet." Anna hit her knifed hand against her palm to accentuate the words.

"Master Zhar . . ." Vandar trailed off with a nod at the Twi'lek. Zhar rested a hand on Anna's arm.

"Come with me. I will be able to explain this more fully."

"Bastila." The Padawan turned to Vandar as Zhar pulled Anna, still protesting, towards the nearby training room. "You should explain to your companions what is happening."

"You are right, Master Vandar. I will do so immediately."

#

Several days after the meeting with the Council that had caused Anna's training-induced disappearance, Mission was bored.

It wasn't unusual. Mission was  _always_  bored when she was cooped up somewhere – at least on Taris the city extended for the entire planet, so she and Zaalbar could move around wherever. But here, they were stuck in the Enclave. The Jedi had expressly stated that they were to not  _leave_  the Enclave, and that left very little room to explore.

Fortunately, Mission had discovered that not all Jedi noticed a good stealth generator.

So she practiced. She was planning on staying with Anna and Carth – if they'd let her – and she knew Zaalbar was. If  _they_  were planning on taking down any Sith, they would need help. And she wasn't going to be caught without her stealth generator ready. And sneaking past Sith would likely be as easy as sneaking past Jedi, so it was good practice. But even  _that_  got boring.

Mission slipped through the corridors, taking advantage of alcoves and corners. Her main goal, as with the other times she'd done this, was to locate Anna, then return to the ship.

Unfortunately, as with most of the other times, she knew exactly where Anna would be. They hadn't done anything more than make her read in the morning and then talk with the Council the rest of the time. Mission had no idea how she stood it. Jedi were supposed to run around playing with lightsabers and making people listen, not sit around and read all the time!

She was also more than a little annoyed that she hadn't seen Anna since her training started. They shouldn't be keeping her from her friends. That was just not right. And Mission didn't like it.

"—believe it is too dangerous."

She slipped around a wall and pressed herself back against an alcove, stifling a quick intake of breath. If anyone would notice her, it'd be one of them.

"Your concern is noted, Vrook, as it has been since the beginning. But we  _have no choice_."

"You have already seen it, Vandar. She expresses the same things we have heard before, from –"

"I will repeat what I have told Atris." The quieter, more high-pitched voice responded, an edge of authority ringing in it over the hum of a hoverpad. "Kavar and I explained the situation to you  _and_  the Council, and we  _all_  decided the potential benefits outweighed the costs. You know as I do that she holds the key to the war – she always has. You must trust us on this, Vrook."

The conversation started to disappear, and Mission assumed the duo was moving off. She swallowed.

 _Huh. That was a little too close. Wonder if they're talking about Anna or Bastila_ …

Mission hurried back to the ship. One close call was enough for that day.

#

Carth worked on the stubborn synthesizer, thoughts miles away.

He wouldn't even get to say goodbye.

He was certain the Fleet would be contacting Dantooine at any time to ask for his return. They needed him out there on the front lines. At any moment, planets on the Rim were in danger of Malak's fleet. He was needed  _there_ , not trapped on some stupid farming planet. And whether Anna knew it or not, so was she. She might not be willing to sign her life to the fleet, but if she stayed on as a consultant then they might have hope. She had a head for strategy the likes of which he'd only seen under Revan. And while  _that_  comparison bothered him, it was true. The fleet needed her head. But no. Here she was getting – if Bastila's phrasing was an indication – molded into the Council's little Jedi puppet, and  _that_  bothered him more than the parallels he drew between her and the now-deceased Sith Lord.

And Anna had been training for days. It'd been six since Taris was destroyed, and Galaxy knew how much longer it would be. There wasn't time – Malak needed to be stopped. Yesterday.

Something beeped from the table where Mission and Zaalbar would usually have been playing pazaak. He extracted himself from the metal and headed over, pressing several buttons to accept the transmission. "This is Carth Onasi."

:: _Carth, this is Admiral Dodonna._ :: The woman swam into focus. He saluted. :: _I have been contacted by the Jedi Council._ ::

"Which one?"

:: _The Council on Coruscant_.:: Carth gnawed on his lip. :: _They have informed me that you are currently on Dantooine. Is that correct?_ ::

"It is. We were forced to crash land on Taris and, after escaping, came here to regroup."

:: _I understand. Taris was almost as senseless as . . . either way, the Jedi Council believes that there is some 'greater purpose' you can serve under them_.:: She sighed. :: _And those above me have agreed with them. I need you with the Fleet, Carth, but you've been reassigned to the Jedi._ ::

Carth stood there, mouth hanging slightly open, as the holo of Dodonna flickered. "I've been reassigned? Here?"

:: _They wish you to stay with the ship you . . . borrowed . . . on Taris. It appears the Jedi are planning something that will require Republic assistance. And if I thought you were ready to object – which you do not appear to be – I would be unable to counter High Command's orders. I am sorry, Carth._ ::

"Uh . . . okay." Carth rubbed his neck. He couldn't take any more suspicion, or he'd explode. "Good luck, Admiral."

:: _And to you, Commander. I do not doubt you will need it._ ::


	16. Chapter 16

None of them saw Anna for the first week of her training. She had her own room in the Enclave, while they were mostly expected to sleep on the  _Hawk_. The Jedi seemed to be discouraging any contact between her and the others. And  _gods_  was it boring.

Mission, T3 and Zaalbar started playing three-person pazaak at the table when T3 wasn't upgrading or fixing parts of the ship. Just so he would have something to do that kept him away from Canderous, who mostly target-practiced on the back of the hangar, Carth spent most of his time helping the droid with the ship, or playing with the synthesizer.

Now that he'd been ordered to stay with the ship, the damn thing was going to work as well as possible. And it didn't help that Canderous was treating the whole thing like a vacation.

About a week after their arrival he was up to his ankles behind the synthesizer, trying to find out why everything it spit out was disgusting. Most of the superficial damage done during their escape from Taris had been beat, welded, or mended out, and he wasn't concerned about anything falling off the next time they ran into Sith fighters. So it was time to address the damned synthesizer.

Steps sounded on the ramp, and he figured Mission was probably coming back for lunch. They detoured into the med bay, accompanied by the sound of drawers being slid in and out of their tracks, and finally resumed their pace to the main hold.

"Stuck?"

Carth jumped, banging his head on the panel above him. "Ow!"

Anna hurried over, helping him up. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize being a smartass would have that effect on you." Carth rubbed his head. She offered him the coldpack she was holding. "I'll grab another one."

Seconds later they were sitting at the table, coldpacks pressed to their heads. Carth studied her. "Have you been sleeping?"

Almost in response, she yawned. "Yeah. Just . . . not well." She moved the coldpack over her forehead. "All this stuff the Jedi are telling me . . . all the . . . I don't know, Carth. I—it's like déjà vu. And I know there's something weird here, but . . ." she shook her head. "I don't know what it is. Something's just . . . really fishy here."

Carth nodded. "I've been suspicious since Taris." He snapped his mouth shut as Anna pierced him with a glare. "Not of you – well, maybe in the beginning. But everything seems . . . strange." He shook his head. "How's it been going?"

She shrugged. "It's been a lot of reading. And having Vrook glare at me and tell me how evil the dark side is and how I need to always be on my guard and I'm half expecting him to start sneaking up behind me and yelling 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' whenever he sees me."

Carth grinned. "That bad?"

"Yeah. It's like . . . 'Master Vrook, I get it. Dark side's bad. Shit hits the fan. I've seen enough of that, okay?' And he just comes back with 'No! Thinking you understand is the path to the dark side! You have to actually  _understand_!' And it's just like . . . 'You definitely just contradicted yourself four times in  _two sentences_.' I'm fine if things have their own internal logic, but . . . seriously."

"He just wants you to understand the seriousness of –"

"Yeah, but I think I've got it, Carth. The dark side does stuff like blow up planets to kill  _one Jedi_. I don't need much more of an explanation than that." Anna got up and got some water from the dispenser, sitting back down.

"So now what?"

Anna lit up. "Zhar thinks I'm ready to start actually doing stuff with the Force now. I'm not going to lie – I'm marginally excited about it. I mean, I'm probably not going to be throwing anything around the room or anything anytime soon, but still . . ." She sighed. "I asked about this, and Vrook gave me his patented 'oh-Force-no-that's-the-path-to-the-dark-side-CONSTANT-VIGILANCE' lecture, but it's  _unlimited_ , Carth. If a Jedi has a strong enough connection to the Force, it almost seems like they can literally do  _anything_. Except for walk through walls and other silly things like that."

Carth leaned back. "I can see why that's the path to the dark side."

"Oh, not you too." Anna rolled her eyes, but her grin gave her away. "I know why it is – unlimited power . . . power corrupts . . . so unlimited power would corrupt without limit. But  _imagine_ , Carth. The power to turn away a fleet of ships; the power to save lives . . ."

He knew what she was talking about. If he'd had the ability to heal, like some Jedi did, then . . . "And they say you already have a strong connection to the –"

"Eh. I just hope they don't have time to coddle me like they've coddled Bastila. I'm no more special than the next person they bring in . . . well, except that I'm old."

They were silent. Carth finally spoke again. "So . . . why the coldpack?"

Anna sighed. "Vrook. I made a smartass comment and he whacked me upside the head." She winced. "It wouldn't have hurt as much if I didn't already have a headache. Seriously, the stuff they tell you about the Force takes a mind of steel to get around."

"Vrook  _hit_  you?"

"Does it surprise you? He already doesn't like me. Apparently he can't take a joke, either."

Carth chuckled. "No, it doesn't really surprise me. I'm just surprised he got away with it."

"Well, I can't say I wasn't getting disapproving looks from the others, but I think Zhar secretly  _wanted_  to laugh."

"Keep telling yourself that." Anna stood with a sigh. "Leaving already?"

She nodded. "I only had a few minutes to dive back here, down some painkillers, and take a break before everything goes to hell. I-I really miss you guys." She paused, stopping in the doorway. "Wait. Why are you still here? Hasn't the Fleet recalled you yet?"

Carth shrugged. "Nothing's come through," he lied. She gave him a suspicious glance.

"Right. Well. I have to go." She turned to leave.

"Good luck, gorgeous," Carth called after her. She glanced back over her shoulder and grinned.

"Thanks, flyboy," she called back.

#

Canderous eyed the target he'd sketched using some chalk and Corellian repair tape, then raised his blaster.

Bolts flew out of it, peppering the already-peppered wall. He walked back to inspect it. Near-perfect aim.

He chuckled. This was what he was reduced to. Former Mandalorian warrior, shooting holes in the wall of a Jedi enclave. To be honest, he was surprised they'd even let him land.

Canderous scowled. No, these were not the Jedi who he'd fought. Those Jedi would  _not_  have let him land, nor scurried around him with sideways, nervous glances they thought he couldn't see. Weaklings, the lot of them.

How they could possibly have spawned the scourge of his people, he had no idea.

He was starting to sketch out another target – smaller than before, thinner, like most of the Jedi flitting around the Enclave – and turned back to his line. Waiting for him was an older man in Jedi robes, idly studying the target he'd just drawn. Canderous grunted out some sort of greeting before turning back to the wall.

"You are the Mandalorian that traveled with Padawan Bastila, correct?" he asked. Canderous glared.

"You see any other Mandalorians here?"

He received an impassive stare in reply. "It was a rhetorical question. I am Nemo."

"Canderous Ordo."

Nemo looked back at Canderous' wall. "Have you given any thought as to your next move, now that Taris is destroyed?"

He said it so off-handedly, so nonchalantly, that even Canderous bristled slightly. He wasn't sure why. He'd destroyed enough worlds that one more falling around him shouldn't make a difference.

Maybe it'd been because he'd been fleeing it, rather than destroying it.

He shrugged it off. "Taking a vacation. Finding work. Same stuff I've been doing since Malachor."

"Then the Council has a proposition for you."

Canderous' eyes narrowed. "I'm listening, Jedi."

#

"Come on, Republic."

Carth jerked his head up from under the synth as the Mandalorian's heavy footfalls announced his entrance into the main hold. "I'm busy, Ordo."

"All right. If you're too scared to –"

As Canderous had hoped, the statement found Carth immediately on his feet, wiping grease off his hands. "What the hell do you think I'm scared of?"

"Heard a rumor that there's am monster kath hound off behind some guy's estate. Thought you might want in on it."

Carth gave him a suspicious look. "Why are you doing this?"

He shrugged. "Look, Republic, I don't like what you're insinuating. It's certainly not out of the goodness of my –"

"Anna put you up to it, didn't she?"

"Says you need to get off the ship. I personally couldn't care less."

Carth glanced around at the main hold. "Suppose I could use a break." He grabbed his blasters. "Where's this thing?"

"Somewhere to the west. Not hard to find, since this thing's described as the biggest godsdamned monster on this rock."

"You check with Zaalbar? He might want to come."

"Didn't see him. 'Sides, how would we know?"

Zaalbar took that moment to lumber into the main hold. He grumbled something that they had learned meant some sort of greeting. "Hey, Zaalbar. We're hunting down a big kath hound. You want in?"

He grumbled something back and shook his head. "Suit yourself," Canderous answered. "Come on, Republic. Unless you're gonna back out?"

"No chance of that, Ordo."

They left the ship. Anna stood in front of them, arms crossed across her chest, looking even tinier than usual in a set of brown Jedi robes. "Good, it worked." She grinned. "Play nice. I'm going to be in training for the foreseeable future, so don't get yourselves killed."

Canderous narrowed his eyes. "You think that kath hound's a match for us?"

She chuckled. "We'll see. I want to see those horns mounted in the main hold the next time I'm there."

"Sure thing, gorgeous."

She grinned, then turned and disappeared back into the Enclave. Canderous smacked the back of Carth's head. "You stare like that, and every Jedi on this rock's gonna be after you."

"What?" Carth rubbed his head. "Don't hit me again."

#

If it was possible, they saw even  _less_  of Anna the next several weeks. Carth, still trying to hunt down the major issue with the synthesizer, had another midday conversation at one point when Anna wandered back to the ship to patch herself up after getting her ass handed to her by Bastila in hand to hand and managed to talk her down from a  _very_  irritated state that was a direct result of said hand to hand match. And there had been another when she sprinted into the ship around dinner having just learned to levitate things, promptly and ecstatically levitating a disgruntled T3 to prove it. Canderous spent most of his time hunting down horn kath hounds, which he claimed were "the nastiest sonsobitches on this gods-forsaken rock after the drexls," which, apparently, he couldn't locate. This was after triumphantly mounting the albino kath's horns over the cockpit door once he and Carth had gotten released from the Jedi med bay.

That changed almost two months later. The group was just getting dinner, Canderous still patching up a gore wound in his arm from that day's hunting, when steps sounded on the ramp. To their surprise, both Anna and Bastila wandered in, Anna collapsing into the chair next to Carth.

"Well?" Canderous snarled, stabbing at his iriaz steak. Carth had to hand it to him – he was at least bringing back something that _wasn't_  potentially lethal and tasted pretty good when cooked up right.

"Oh,  _gods_ ," Anna moaned, grabbing for the plate in the center of the table. "Is this  _real food_?"

"Zaalbar's apparently quite a chef," Carth answered. Zaalbar grunted. "It's good, since I still haven't figured out what's wrong with the synth."

Anna ignored the last part of his comment, happily munching on part of her steak. Canderous snorted. "What? Jedi don't feed you?"

She glared at him, swallowing. "They do. It's just not half as good as this. And I'm always still hungry."

Bastila glared at her from across the table, but Carth noticed that she still took steak for herself. "Being a Jedi is not about the food, Anna."

"Yeah, but they'd get more recruits."

There was a brief silence. Bastila cleared her throat. "And shouldn't you perhaps  _update_  them on today's events?"

"Huh? What happened – oh yeah." Anna unclipped something from her belt and held it up. Mission hi-fived her.

"You did it!" she said, bouncing in her seat.

"I'm not really a Jedi," Anna said, clipping her lightsaber back. "But they haven't kicked me out. Yet. And they did give me a lightsaber."

"So what do you have to do to finish up?"

Anna shrugged. "Something cryptic about cleaning out a grove and facing off against someone who wields a lightsaber – I dunno, but crypticism is something to be expected from the Jedi anyway."

"Crypticism isn't even a word," Bastila said.

"Anything becomes a word if you stick '-ism' on the end. You haven't noticed this? It's like –ology – it immediately becomes valid. I could stick –ology onto the end of 'Bastila' and it becomes the study of Bastila . . . which would probably be terrifying."

Carth coughed, his fabulous sense of timing again meriting that a piece of steak had just been swallowed before her comment. Canderous even chuckled – more at the color Bastila's face had turned.

Mission was grinning. "So what would Bastila-ism be?"

Anna shrugged, furrowing her brow. "Hm. I'd say a religion of Bastila, probably."

Zaalbar made a noise that may have been a deep, throaty laugh and they jumped. Carth shook his head.

"Anna."

"I know, I know." Anna speared another piece of iriaz. "But you have to admit, Bastila-ism would be interesting. Sorry."

"It isn't a problem. I'm beginning to expect such asides from you. What do you think of the task the Council has given you?"

"Eh. Grove cleaning-outing, kath-hound-killing. I have a reasonable suspicion as to what's there. Since they don't want you with me I'll probably take Canderous and Carth out."

"Good. I'm tired of looking at the inside of this stupid Enclave," Carth muttered. Bastila glared at him. "It's wonderful and all, and we're safe, but . . .  _damn_. We've been here for months already!"

"Carth's right. It is really boring," Mission admitted.

"We should be thankful that we are  _safe_ ," Bastila chided. "Boring or not, Malak has yet to find us."

Anna yawned. "Yeah, and unless he grows brains, he isn't going to tonight." Carth almost jumped as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Gods, I'm tired."

"You should probably get some sleep, then," he answered.

She yawned again. "Yeah. Probably. Hey, Mish, I still owe you a pazaak game, don't I?"

Mission lit up. "Yeah, sometime."

Anna stood. "Tomorrow. It's on." She stretched. "Bastila, can I talk to you?"

"Uh . . . sure."

They retreated to med bay, where Anna sat down on the cot. Bastila leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. "What did you wish to speak to me about?"

"I would have done this a lot earlier, but I was too consistently exhausted during my training." Anna sighed – if the Jedi were good at one thing, it was making sure she slept all three hours she was given. "I want to talk about that dream we had."

Bastila frowned. "It was less of a dream and more of a vision – one we shared. Did the Council not answer your questions?"

She echoed her frown. "Is that a trick question?"

"I . . . I really don't understand what you mean."

"Why did we have this vision thing?"

"Why did we share it? Or why did we have it?"

Anna shrugged. "Both, I suppose."

"As to the first, I can only echo the Council's statements. Our fates are linked, and for two as strong as we are that amounts to a near-physical bond. And to the second? I do not know. But perhaps we should be grateful for what we have been given."

"But how did that happen? How did we end up with this link? I never met you before the Jedi hired me for the  _Spire_  mission!"

"I—I'm not sure."  _Banthas_ , Anna thought. "Believe me, I certainly don't find the prospect of being joined to you enjoyable in  _any_ fashion."

Anna half-laughed. "Well, thanks a lot."

"Please forgive me. I did not wish to imply that you are repulsive. I'm just not used to sharing something so . . .  _personal_."

She shook her head. "That is not what I was inferring either. So . . . why did we dream of Revan and Malak?"

Bastila shrugged. "Perhaps that is what we desired. Perhaps they left an indelible trace on this planet."

"I certainly didn't  _want_  to dream about them."

"They would . . . not be my first choice, either. We dreamed about them either because we were meant to, or because we needed to. There is no other way to look at it."

"It's rather . . .  _convenient_ , though, don't you think?"

Bastila shook her head. "The Force often seems to cause events that bend the laws of probability, especially with those like us. In that respect, you will simply have to become accustomed to such 'convenience.' We are used by the Force, and we will do what it wills."

Anna shook her head. She wasn't going to go into her opinions on being used by the Force. "What do you think they were doing?"

"I have no idea, but it is obviously important, which is why we must investigate it further – when the Council wills."

"Well, I'm not sure I like having you in my dreams."

"And are you so sure that you are not in  _my_  dreams?"

Anna thought for a second. "Yeah. Pretty sure."

"I see." Bastila's tone indicated her own opinion. "That is most likely vanity speaking, for I am not certain myself. Regardless, our fates are linked. That vision was no doubt for us both."

"Do you think it'll happen again?"

"With luck. I would rather not rely on them to guide us, but when we have so little else to go on and the galaxy is in the balance . . . it is better than nothing."

"Yeah. I suppose." Anna hopped off the med bay cot. "Well, good night. We'll be getting an early start in the morning."

Bastila swallowed as Anna started back toward the women's dorm. She couldn't keep up this charade.

If anything, her charge was too smart for it.


	17. Chapter 17

Anna, Carth, and Canderous left the ship early the next morning. By the time Mission woke up, Bastila was fastening the collar of her robes, preparing to head out. The Twi'lek stretched.

"Good morning, Mission," Bastila said, not turning from the makeshift mirror they'd rigged up.

"Morning." Mission yawned.

Bastila sat down on the end of her bunk. "I have not seen much of you since Taris. How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Okay. It's just hard, you know? It's all I knew for my whole life, and it's just . . .  _gone_. But it's like Anna said . . . Malak'll pay for what he did, right? And we're going to stop him from doing it to anyone else's home."

"Yes. We are." Bastila rubbed her shoulder as she stood. "Anna made breakfast this morning – oatmeal, again, but I believe it's because that's the only stomachable thing that comes out of the synth." Mission laughed. "Zaalbar's out there too."

"Thanks, Bastila," Mission said as she started to leave. She looked back.

"If you ever need to talk, Mission, and Anna isn't around, you can come to me."

"I know." Mission sighed. "And you know, Anna and Carth are hard on you, but they like you. And Canderous is just Canderous."

Bastila gave her a brief, weak smile. "I know."

They ate breakfast in silence, Mission and Zaalbar finally leaving to explore outside the Enclave. Bastila struggled to meditate for several hours, but she couldn't clear her head. So she left the  _Hawk_.

She let her feet carry her on a familiar path to the Council chambers, lost in thought. The Masters looked up as she entered.

"You seem troubled, Bastila," Vandar asked immediately. She nodded.

"Something has been weighing on me as of late," she said hesitantly, catching her lip in her teeth unconsciously.

"Has she left?" Zhar asked. Bastila nodded.

"She set out early today with the Mandalorian and Commander Onasi. Only Mission, Zaalbar, and the Astromech are around the ship."

"What is bothering you?" Vrook asked. She sighed.

"It's . . . I believe that Anna and Carth are suspicious."

"Of what?" Vrook didn't sound convinced.

"Carth approached me repeatedly on Taris, asking me about her past. Anna has raised concerns during her training . . . concerns that worry me."

"What has she told you that we are not privy to?" Zhar asked.

"She has told me that she believes she has heard before much of what she was taught. On Taris, after the events with Starkiller – I have already told you what she says she felt. And you know – better than I – that some of the ideas she voiced in her training were ones –"

"Why is the commander suspicious?"

"He has a reputation for being suspicious. It was part of our discussion before the  _Endar Spire_  mission was decided on," Vandar interjected.

"Continue, Padawan."

"He believes her behavior to be inconsistent with that of a smuggler. He described instances on Taris where she threw a vibroblade as if it were a lightsaber, and seemed genuinely confused when it did not return; he confronted me about her stance being too Jedi-like . . ." Bastila swallowed. "I know that keeping her identity a secret is important, Masters, but when you send us to search for whatever is behind the Sith war effort . . . I am afraid I cannot keep up the charade."

"The Council decided that we cannot tell her the truth. She is too dangerous."

Bastila sighed. "I understand, Master Vrook. But what will happen if she learns of it independently? She already has qualms about being tra—re-trained. Her distrust of the Jedi will go up exponentially if she learns –"

"You  _must_  learn to cope with this, Bastila." Zhar set his hand on her shoulder. "You are strong enough for this, and you know what is at stake."

Bastila nodded. In hindsight she should have realized that their response would have been such – but it was still worth hearing. "Thank you, Master Zhar."

She was just turning to leave when a lithe Cathar slunk into the chambers, attracting the Masters' attention though that was obviously not her intent. "Juhani," Vandar said. She jumped when he addressed her, and it seemed like she briefly considered fleeing. "You have returned."

"I . . . I was encouraged to seek your forgiveness," she said quietly, eyes on the floor.

"Bastila. Go wait for Anna to return. We wish to speak with her immediately." Bastila bowed and hurried out.

She sat down on one of the elevated walls surrounding the outer courtyard, letting the Dantooine sun beat on the back of her neck. She recognized the girl's name. Juhani. No one was fully privy to all the information, but some of the older Jedi and all of the Masters had been discussing her privately and Belaya had been wandering around unhappily for at least two weeks. She sighed. It made sense that that would be Anna's test, and she felt a little more . . .  _comfortable_  . . . with the idea of traveling with her.  _Revan would never have_  –

Canderous' gruff laugh echoed from somewhere nearby, jolting her back into reality. She glanced over. They were just rounding the corner and entering the crossroads of the Enclave.

She watched as Anna held up her hand to stop the other two, walking forward to a man sitting on one of the benches nearby. Bastila stood and started toward them.

"—the leader," Anna was saying as she approached, handing him the Mandalorian helmet she was holding. He stared down at it.

"T-thank you. I—my Ilsa can rest in peace, now, I think." He dug into his pockets and produced a handful of credits, counting them out. Anna stopped him.

"No. Keep them."

"No. No, I . . ." He pushed the credits into Anna's hand, closing her fingers around the stack. "Take it. It's the only way I can express –"

Anna bit her lip. "Okay. Thank you, Jon."

The man stood and hurried off to where the majority of settlers parked their speeders. Anna shoved the credits into her pocket and turned, jumping. " _Jacinta_ , Bastila."

Canderous, who had apparently seen Bastila's approach and kept quiet, chuckled. Carth was still glaring at him. Bastila cocked her head slightly.

"What happened out there?"

Anna flushed. Canderous grinned. Carth glared at him murderously.

"We will never again speak of it," Anna said definitively, glaring back at Canderous. His grin broadened as she brushed past Bastila and stalked back toward the Enclave.

"An-Anna!" Bastila hurried after her. "The Council wants to –"

"I figured," Anna answered. They followed her, Canderous still cackling. Anna had fortunately brought her flush down by the time they walked back into the Council chambers.

Zhar managed to smile at her. "You have done well. The ancient grove has been purified, and Juhani's journey down the dark path halted. It is thanks to you that she walks once more in the light."

"But do not dismiss what happened to her!" Vrook interrupted. Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Juhani is dedicated and true to the Jedi Order, but even she was vulnerable to the dark side." There was a nod from the Masters.

 _CONSTANT VIGILANCE!_  Anna resisted a small laugh. "I still don't understand just  _what_  she did," she admitted, instead.

"She struck her Master in anger during training," Zhar explained. "Quatra was greatly injured, but it was her choice to test her in this manner, and we believe her point has been made." Zhar stepped forward, resting a hand on her shoulder. "But congratulations . . . Padawan. With Juhani's redemption, you have proven yourself worthy of joining our Order."

"But there is more we must discuss," Vandar said. "Namely, the nature of the dream you and Bastila shared." Anna nodded, linking her hands together behind her back. Canderous was still snickering. She made a rude gesture at him from behind her back, which made it worse. "When Bastila described the ruins in your dream, Master Dorak recognized them as a series of ancient structures here, on Dantooine. We believe this one to be located just east of the Enclave. We sent a Jedi to investigate, but he has not yet returned. Sending him may have been a mistake."

"And why is that?"

"The Force is guiding you through these visions – it is likely that exploring the ruins is a task that  _must_  be completed by you. The Council has decided that you must be the one to investigate this. The way to stop Malak may be hidden in those ruins. You must search them and find what Revan and Malak were looking for."

"Er . . ." Anna chewed on her lip. "What happened to the Jedi you sent?"

". . . we do not know. That is one of the things you must investigate. We fear . . . the worst."

Anna merely nodded. "We'll head out immediately."

"That would be for the best," Zhar said. "We –"

"I demand justice!" Anna jumped, turning. She didn't miss both Canderous and Carth's hands dropping for their weapons, and to her surprise her own hand fell to the lightsaber at her hip. An older man had stalked into the Council chambers, followed by a couple of hassled-looking Jedi and a  _very_  hassled-sounding protocol droid. "The Sandral family is a blight on Dantooine! They must be punished!"

"The Council  _will_  look into this matter, Mr. Matale. You  _must_  be patient. Your accusations are unfounded, and you cannot stir up trouble with the Sandrals if there is some mistake."

" _Mistake_? My son is missing! How can there be any _doubt_  about the Sandrals' involvement?"

"There are other possibilities for your son's disappearance," Vrook replied patiently, as if this was a conversation he'd had many times before.

"Other explanations?" he scoffed. "You Jedi are good for nothing but talk! I will only wait so long before I take matters into my own hands!"

He waved his hand and turned, storming past the other Jedi and the droid who hurriedly followed him out. "I apologize for the intrusion, Masters," one of them apologized.

Vandar shook his head. "It is no matter. Mr. Matale has been waiting to speak with us for several hours. It is not surprising that he grew impatient." The Jedi bowed and left, probably to make sure he found the exit without destroying their droid. Vandar turned back to the small group, who had organized themselves off to the side. "As dangerous as Malak and the Sith are, we cannot abandon our other responsibilities. The Council has promised to investigate the disappearance of Ahlan Matale's son. Should you have time, you may wish to investigate this matter."

Anna nodded. "I'll look into it when I head out to the ruins."

"Good. If Shen Matale is not found, it may ignite a bloody feud between the Matale and Sandral estates. That must not be allowed to happen. Your study and training is important, of course, but we are not a cloistered Order. Our influence and teachings must spread beyond the walls of our Academies."

"It is in the real world that we truly prove ourselves worthy of the title Jedi. You would do well to remember this, young Padawan."

"Right." She nodded and, at the obvious dismissal, turned on her heel. Bastila bowed and hurried after her, displeasure at her disrespect still showing on her face. "Well, investigating blood feuds and ancient ruins," Anna continued, shaking her head. "At least there's variety."

"Anna, it worries me how lightly you take our responsi—"

"Bastila, it worries me how you make everything worse than it already is." As they walked into the round courtyard, Anna held up her hand. "Go on. I'll catch up."

Carth and Canderous started for the ship, Canderous promptly insulting Carth's gun and Carth retaliating properly, though Bastila thought that innuendo she was missing may have been involved. She rolled her eyes, turning back to Anna.

Anna had hurried over to the Cathar Bastila had seen earlier, and she joined her. "—of you, I am once again welcome in the Order," she was saying as Bastila drew to a halt.

"What did you learn about Quatra?"

"Quatra's injuries were not as severe as I was led to believe. I was foolish to believe I could harm a Master such as she with my . . . clumsy abilities. The fierce confrontation between us was nothing more than a part of my training. Quatra wanted me to understand the threat of the dark side, and how easy it was to fall."

Anna cocked an eyebrow, but restrained herself. "Where is she now?"

"After . . . that, Quatra had nothing left to teach me. I needed . . . time to explore the turmoil of my own spirit. Only then was I ready to follow a guide –  _you_  – back to the light. When I left, Quatra knew her work with me was done. There are . . . others who need training throughout the galaxy, and she could not stay to see if I passed this most difficult trial.

"And with your help, I did. The Council now feels I am ready to continue my training, though they have asked me to wait here for the time being."

"This was a painful lesson, Juhani," Bastila interjected. "But it seems you have learned it well. I am certain you will be a credit to the Order."

Juhani nodded. "I do not know what the Council has in store for me, but I will trust in the Force and the way of the Jedi to help me through whatever is to come."

"Juhani." An auburn-haired woman, hair tugged back into a severe bun, joined them. "I was – ah. You must be the woman who returned her to the Order."

"I did very little," Anna answered with a small smile. "I believe Juhani was prepared to return. I just had to convince her of that."

"However it occurred, you deserve highest praise."

Anna looked back at Juhani. "I just happened to see you and wished to know how you were holding up." She rested a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck with the rest of your training."

"And may the Force be with you," Juhani answered. Anna and Bastila turned as Belaya tugged her away.

"I can't say I approve," Anna said, once they were out of earshot.

"Of what?"

"Well, the whole 'I'm going to make you go mynocky by making you think you killed me and then run off so you can figure it out yourself' approach."

"I am sure Quatra knew what she was doing."

"I'm sure she did. I just think there might have been better ways to go about it." Anna's comm beeped. "Great. I probably have to go break up another fight between the boys." She pulled it off. "Anna."

:: _Anna we . . . you should probably . . ._ :: Carth sounded breathless. :: _We . . . Just get back to the_ Hawk.::

"What happened  _now_?"

:: _Just . . . just get back here._ ::

"Great." Anna and Bastila hurried back to the ship, running up the ramp. Canderous was at the workbench, beating a bend out of a nonessential part on his blaster. He was shaking his head, evil grin still on his face. Zaalbar was groaning from somewhere in the ship. Bastila didn't understand what he was saying, but Anna rolled her eyes.

"Oh,  _Force_." Anna started for the main hold. They walked in.

Carth was leaning against one of the walls, struggling to catch his breath. Mission had finally cornered Zaalbar, and was standing over him with a wide brush and a makeshift curling iron. Half of the fur around his face was already curled.

Bastila hid a small smile behind her hand. Anna bit her finger to keep from laughing. "You okay, Z?"

" _Make her stop . . ._ " Zaalbar groaned half-heartedly. Bastila didn't understand Shyriiwook, but she was positive he was enjoying the attention.

"Oh, stop, you big baby," Mission scolded. "You know, I keep telling Big Z that grooming is important, and this is the reaction I get."

Anna shook her head. Zaalbar actually seemed to be enjoying the attention, which meant Mission wasn't going to be dismembered anytime soon, so she wasn't afraid to leave them alone. "Carth. Bastila. Take an hour and we'll get going with this whole Sandral-Matale thing. Mish? Don't pull his hair too much." Still chuckling under her breath, she headed for the garage.


	18. Chapter 18

Anna leaned back her head as she stepped out into the sunshine in front of the Sandral estate. Shen rocketed past them, grabbing a waiting Rahasia and pulling her into an embrace.

"Shen!" she whispered, wrapping him in her arms. "You're safe!"

"Rahasia! Thank goodness you managed to escape."

"Well, this is adorable," Anna said, casting a glance around to look for anyone approaching them.

"We need to get out of here," Carth hissed. She nodded.

"It was all thanks to them that we managed to get this far at all." Rahasia pulled away, motioning at them. "Thank you, so much."

Anna shook her head, holding up a hand.. "Later. You should get out of here."

"You're right. I don't know how long it'll take my father –"

"Never mind," Anna said with a sigh, staring back towards the Enclave. "Too late."

They turned. From behind Rahasia and Shen came Ahlan, flanked by two war droids. Almost immediately, the sound of a door opening echoed behind them, and Sandral stepped out, flanked by his own.

"Oh boy," Carth muttered. Anna elbowed him.

"There you are, Shen!" Ahlan turned back to Sandral, gun held accusingly. "I knew this was all your doing! I knew you had captured my son!"

"Let's not jump to –" Anna tried to interrupt.

"You had taken my Casus from me long before that! You started it!"

"Now that isn't –"

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses! Now I will get revenge for your transgressions!"

"Both of you need to  _calm down_!" Anna finally raised her voice enough to be heard.

"Father, you must listen to her!" Shen pleaded.

"Why should I listen to the Jedi? All you want is to stay with that Sandral harlot!"

Anna resisted the urge to slam her palm against her head repeatedly. Carth's face expressed a similar desire.

"My daughter is  _not_  a harlot!"

"Perhaps you should try to sort this out together. Like  _civilized_  individuals." Anna jerked her head, giving Bastila and Carth an unconscious signal to move Rahasia and Shen out of the line of fire. Just in case.

"Well, we  _are_  trying to be reasonable. We  _are_  sensible people," Sandral said. "Our children are just being stubborn."

"If Shen would just understand that he has to do what I want, this would be solved easily."

"Shen's an adult," Anna replied. "He's capable of making decisions on his own."

"But . . . I don't want to lose him." He actually sounded sad. Anna swallowed. She was treading on dangerous ground here.

"And I won't let my daughter go with him!"

"Children grow up. You won't be able to keep her here forever."

Matale sadly looked at Rahasia. "My little Rahasia . . ." He turned back to Sandral. "I-Why do we fight like this, Ahlan? We got along in the beginning."

"I don't know how you can think of that when we have our children trying to go away together!"

"It wouldn't be so bad, would it? Shen seems to genuinely care for my Rahasia. He might be a good husband for her someday."

Sandral scoffed, but softened. "As much as I may dislike it . . . I think I see it too."

Anna felt the first flicker of hope. "You'll let them stay together, then?"

"I suppose I  _might_  be convinced to see that Sandral girl with my son.  _If_  she is loyal to him." He whirled back towards Sandral, gun brandished again. "But I don't trust you a centimeter farther, old man! Your daughter may treat Shen well, but you will never see them! They will live with me."

Carth was surprised the conversation had even made it this far, so he wasn't surprised when Matale threw another wrench in the works. And he tried to hide a smile. Anna was visibly frustrated now, bottom lip slightly stuck out, jaw cocked to the side, palm digging into her forehead. Bastila was irritated that she was showing her frustration, but Carth couldn't be even though he knew it wasn't going to help the situation. Frustrated Anna was a new look he hadn't seen before, which frankly surprised him. He'd thought he had a dictionary of her emotions by now.

"Of course not, you pompous old windbag! They'll be living with  _me_!"

"Why don't you just  _com-pro-mise_." Anna said the word slowly. Carth hid a grin.

"I will  _not_  have them set foot in a Sandral household!"

"They will  _not_  live with the Matales!"

"Then you are proposing to buy us a new house?" Rahasia cut in. Anna spun as the two men looked over at the girl. Anna hid it from their parents, but gave her a thumbs-up.

"Well . . . yes, actually, that sounds like a good idea."

"I'm . . . surprised. That  _does_  sound like a good idea."

"We should discuss this more." Sandral and Matale looked at each other, slightly surprised.

Shen was almost glowing as he stepped closer to Anna. "Thank you, Mistress Jedi, for bringing our families together."

Rahasia  _was_  beaming. She did also just get a house out of the deal, so Anna thought a large part of her expression had to do with that. "We will praise you to the Council for your actions and name our children after you."

"We cannot thank you enough."

Matale had disappeared, and Sandral was back in his estate. Shen took Rahasia's hand and they walked toward one of the nearby speeders.

Anna was slightly red. "There's going to be kids named after me?"

Carth chuckled, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You handled it well."

"You did," Bastila said, glaring at Carth until he pulled his arm off Anna's shoulders. "Except that you showed your emotions. If either Sandral or Matale had –"

"Oh, trust me, they did. It was my intent. Not everyone is warmed up to the Jedi-are-completely-emotionless trick. My goal was to show that I was as frustrated by the situation as they were."

Bastila's jaw nearly hit the floor. "But Jedi are known to be impassionate observers who do not take sides. To see a Jedi who even gives the  _illusion_  of possessing emotions makes that Jedi seem as –"

"—someone capable of understanding them? Maybe more of our problems would get solved if Jedi didn't go around pretending to be holier-than-thou all the time."

"You seem to forget that you condemn  _yourself_ , now."

Anna looked down at the simple robes Bastila had convinced her to change into before they'd left the  _Hawk_. "Oh, yeah. Well, I've only been a full Jedi for a few hours, so I suppose it's to be expected." She shrugged. "Still doesn't change my opinion about the whole deal. Let's just go and see if we can find these ruins."

Anna led the way. Carth fell into step behind her.

She seemed to have mellowed out over her training and, while still possessing her intense personality, she was more grounded, a little more serious. It was almost as if the Jedi giving her a purpose had reined her in, giving her something to focus on.

And he still wondered where they'd found robes small enough for her.

"Bastila," he asked as they neared the stone pillars that marked the entrance to the ruins. "Do you have any idea what's in here?"

"Well, from the vision, it looked as if Revan and Malak were looking for some sort of map. I suspect that is what we must seek out as well."

Anna slowed as they started toward the door. Bastila and Carth paused as she ran her hand over it. "Are you okay?" Carth asked. Anna nodded.

"It's just I . . . I feel like . . ." She swallowed, resting her hand on what Carth figured was the locking mechanism, the action almost a caress. "I just feel like I've been here before."

"We have. In our vision."

Anna shook her head. "No. I feel like it's more . . . never mind. Déjà vu rarely has merit." She pushed on the button. It didn't move. "Mother of all Wookiees."

"I've got it." Carth reached past her and pushed. The button depressed, and the door slid open.

"Thanks." She stepped around his arm and into the dark cave behind the door, Bastila close behind.

Carth glanced back at the plains before following them in.

#

Malak finished dictating his orders. The man at the console plugged them in, swallowing. He knew better than to question Malak's orders, but calling off a search he was so vehement to begin was very  _different_. There was something weird about that ship.

"The orders are away, Lord Malak," he said. Malak said nothing, but stalked away toward the helm.

"Set course for the Star Forge," he ordered.

"Setting course for the Star Forge."

"Communications." He stalked back.

"Sir?"

"Send warning messages to Korriban and our base on Manaan to be on alert for the  _Ebon Hawk_."

"Right away, sir."

"I will take care of the others myself." Malak was mostly speaking to himself as he stalked off the bridge. The communications officer glanced after him.

Yes. Something was definitely weird.

#

Mission finished tormenting Zaalbar and the two started testing out different channels in the communications room. They had gone through one of the action holo streams when the console Anna had set to Sith frequencies – which had been silent since their first night on Dantooine – beeped wildly.

It was loud enough that even Canderous came in from the main hold. "What the hell's that noise?"

Mission was checking the console. "I don't know. I'm not sure what's –" She paused. "No, here it is."

Canderous, Zaalbar, and Mission leaned in. Mission started reading. "' _The previous order to locate and capture aforementioned freighter 34-P7JK 'Ebon Hawk' is suspended until further notice under orders from Lord Malak himself. If the freighter is located, do not move to intercept. Relay coordinates to Command and await further instructions_.' What does that mean?"

"Means Malak either thinks Bastila's buried on Taris or he's figured out some worse diversion for us," Canderous said, leaning over her to skim the message himself. "My vote's on the latter."

"Why's that?"

Canderous pointed to one line of the orders. "' _Relay coordinates to Command and await further instructions_.'"

"But what does –"

"Malak's probably got someone special looking for us. I'd say that whoever's looking for us is  _probably_  going to find us."

"Any guesses?"

"Depends on whether he's sending out Sith to find us or he's hiring bounty hunters." Canderous straightened. "If Calo wasn't dead I'd say Malak would have gotten him. After that . . ." he shook his head. "Might have gotten . . . nah. The problem is no one is as good as Calo was, 'least at tracking. So my money's on Sith."

T3 rolled in. " _There's a Jedi here_ ," he chirped. " _He says the other Jedi want you in the Council chambers._ "

"We should probably go."

" _Can I come this time_?" he asked. Mission patted his flat head.

"Sure. Come on."

Canderous grumbled, "Still don't know why they think I care."

They followed their Jedi guide back to the Council chambers. As they walked through the door, they saw Anna, Carth, and Bastila already waiting for them.

"Good. They wanted to get started when we got back, but I thought you deserved to be here," Anna said.

"She had a good reason," Zhar said. "It is important that you know what she will face."

"All right. Let's get on with it," Canderous growled. Bastila and the Masters glared at him.

"Padawan." Vandar turned towards Anna. "Inform your companions about your discovery in the ruins."

"We found an incomplete map – a Star Map. And a droid programmed with several dead languages and an ancient form of Selkath mentioning this  _thing_  called a Star Forge."

"Master Dorak has been consulting the archives. He is scheduled to –"

Said Master returned through a side door, and they withdrew slightly to huddle. Anna stepped toward Canderous, Mission, and Zaalbar. "Zaalbar, looks good."

The Wookiee pulled at one of the curls, which was amazingly still holding. " _You humans have always had strange grooming habits_."

"Anna, we intercepted a . . .  _transmission_  . . . from the Sith," Canderous said. Bastila and Carth immediately joined their separate huddle.

"What was it?"

Canderous started to recite it, but the Masters retracted their attention. "Padawans Anna, Bastila." The duo turned back as Vandar spoke. "There is more we must ask of you in the battle against Malak and the Sith. Our victory over the Sith will not come through strength. The Council has a mission for you, Padawan."

"There is no mention of a 'Star Forge' in our vast Archives," Dorak added. "This means we will be sending you out blindly."

"Still, the Council is in agreement," Vrook stated. "The Star Forge must be located. It was sought by Revan and Malak when they began their tragic fall . . . the Star Forge is surely a powerful tool of the dark side."

Carth noted that the Jedi Masters  _did_  nod in-sync whenever the dark side was mentioned.

"The Star Map showed you four planets, but it was incomplete. It did not show the location of the Star Forge itself. We believe there may be similar Star Maps on other planets. Each Star Map is likely a small piece of a larger puzzle. If you locate the Star Maps on Kashyyyk, Tatooine, Manaan, and Korriban, we believe they will lead you to the Star Forge."

The others watched as Anna sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sounds like a suicide mission."

Vrook's response was characteristically outburst-like. "Always brash and impatient. Is this what we're basing all our hopes on?"

"Peace, Vrook. We know there is no other choice." Vandar returned his attention to Anna and nodded slightly, ignoring her comment. "Our numbers have been ravaged by this war, but we realize the importance of this mission. Yet if we were to send a company of Knights with you, we would surely draw the attention of Malak and the Sith . . . and doom your efforts to failure."

"I—you're making me do this  _alone_?" Anna couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's like throwing me to the cannocks!"

Carth glanced around at their group. No one – not even Canderous – seemed to like that idea.

Didn't matter. He'd been ordered to stay anyway.

"No," Vander said solidly. "Secrecy may be our best defense, but it would be foolish for us to send you without someone to aid you, Padawan. Bastila will accompany you, for there is a powerful connection between you two . . . and that may be the key to unraveling the mysteries uncovered by Revan. And Juhani has asked to accompany you, as well. After long deliberation, we have granted her request."

"Juhani nearly fell to the dark side. Perhaps her presence will serve as a reminder to you of the dangers of that past." Vrook glared at Anna with his piercing glare, and she readily stared back.

"Hey! What about us?" Mission protested. "I'm going with her!" Zaalbar grumbled something. "Yeah, and Big Z has a life-debt to her!"

"She needs me to fly the ship," Carth said simply.

Canderous grunted something in agreement.

Dorak and Zhar may have been amused. Vrook certainly was not. Vandar was hard to read. "Of course those who aided you on Taris will accompany you – you may find their skills useful on your quest. Just remember that secrecy and discretion are paramount to your success. You will not be able to hide that you are Jedi . . . and nor should you. But the true nature of your mission  _must not_  reach Malak's ears. You may return here at any time. Use Dantooine as a sanctuary. Here you can find supplies and advice, or other aid that we may give you."

"Then the sooner we leave, the better."

"You can leave whenever you wish," Vrook said. "The longer you wait, the stronger Malak becomes. But first a warning: The lure of the dark side –" There was the nod "—is difficult to resist. I fear this quest to find the Star Forge could lead you down an all too familiar path."

"The fate of the galaxy is in your hands, young Padawan. We pray you are up to the challenge. May the Force be with you."

Bastila bowed, Anna half-bowed and led the way out. Almost immediately, she was in charge. "We'll leave first thing in the morning. Carth, T3, how's the  _Hawk_?"

"Ready to fly when we are." T3 chirped agreement. "And so am I."

"Canderous, you in?"

"Why the hell not? I've got nothing better to do than work for the Exchange."

"Mish, Zaalbar, how's the supplies?"

"Good."

" _We won't have to restock for at least two months_."

"Excellent. We'll do a debriefing with Juhani, get some dinner, get some sleep, and head out. Now you say you intercepted a transmission?"

Canderous repeated it. Anna frowned. "That's an order to stand down. We've either really caught Malak's attention or we've lost it."

"I doubt we have lost it," Bastila said. "If anything, Malak is waiting to see what –"

Anna shook her head. "No. That's wishful thinking. Malak's got someone looking for us."

"I like the way you think," Canderous said. Anna half rolled her eyes.

"The problem's  _who_. He's either got a mass of ex-Jedi—"

"Dark Jedi."

" _Ex-_ Jedi after us, or he's going the bounty-hunter route. With Calo Nord dead, it's probably the ex-Jedi route."

"Are you ready for that?" Carth asked quietly.

"I have fought dark Jedi before. I am not concerned."

"I'm not worried about you," Carth replied. Bastila frowned.

"I'll be fine, Carth," Anna said. "Trust me."

They stepped up the ramp. Carth headed for the cockpit to make sure everything was in order. Zaalbar and Mission hurried off to the cargo hold to check supplies, Zaalbar starting to explain how to make grenades. Canderous disappeared somewhere into the ship and judging by T3's chirps from the engine room he was in there checking over the engines.

"We should wait outside for Juhani," Bastila said.

"You go. I need to talk to Carth."

Bastila gave her a 'we're going to talk about this' look, but nodded. "I ask that you join me outside when you are done."

"Yeah." Bastila headed down the ramp, and Anna headed for the cockpit. Carth was adjusting something on the console, and she cleared her throat as she leaned on the door-frame. "Hey, Carth?"

"What do you need?"

"You've been awfully quiet lately." He had. Minus the occasional input, since she'd been made an actual Jedi the previous day he'd been strangely silent.

"Have I?" Carth shrugged, dropping down into the pilot's chair and spinning to face her. "I suppose I have. I just don't like being left out of the loop."

Anna sat down in the copilot's seat. He tracked her movement in his chair. "What do you mean?"

"Left out of the loop. You know. Not being told anything . . . strung along. It's really starting to irritate me."

Anna gave a small, toneless laugh. "I know what you mean."

"For one thing, I want to know what the Jedi Council said to you before – not just what they meant now. They pulled you in there weeks ago and refused to tell me a thing about it. I mean . . . why aren't they keeping you on Dantooine? For training? Isn't that dangerous?"

Anna shrugged. "I-I guess that they think the Star Maps are more important."

"And why is that? You were amazing on Taris, but shouldn't – I mean, don't they have to  _train_  you?"

Anna looked out the window. "I'm not actually sure," she admitted. "You may not think so, but they're keeping me in the dark too. About a  _lot_."

"Why do the Jedi  _always_ seem to know  _everything_  and leave the rest of us in the dark? I mean, the Jedi aren't known for taking on old Padawans and sending them out on dangerous missions – don't look at me like that. I'm not trying to provoke you or anything, but why? Give me a hand, Anna, there  _has_  to be a reason!"

"I – I guess they're hoping that the 'bond' I have with Bastila will be enough."

"A  _bond_?" Carth's voice had the same questioning tone that hers had when they'd told her. "What kind of  _bond_? You mean to say you're 'tied' to Bastila? I have trouble believing that."

"What are you trying to say, Carth?" she snapped, bristling as she climbed back to her feet. "Are you trying to say I'm not needed?"

"What? No! I don't mean that you aren't wanted, or needed, it's just – damn it, Anna, I am  _not_  going to wait around until I'm betrayed again!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Anna flinched. He swore inwardly as a wall of frustration hid the brief glimmer of pain her eyes had carried, and he knew the reply that was coming.

"I am  _not_  going to betray you!" she snapped. "I am  _not_  Saul!"

He ran his hand through his hair, getting to his own feet. "Look, I didn't mean it that way. I want to get to Saul, not . . . no, forget it. It seems all I can do is insult you, isn't it?"

"No, Carth. I-I just—" Anna bit her lip, turning to leave the cockpit. He grabbed her arm.

"Wait, Anna . . . don't go, damn it. Please."

But it was too late. She pulled out of his grasp. "I'm sorry, Carth." Her voice was cool and collected. "I need to wait for Juhani."

She stalked out, and Carth collapsed back down in the pilot's seat, rubbing his forehead with his palms.

"Good job, Onasi," he muttered. "Good kriffing job."

Anna paused in the garage, leaning down against the workbench. She quickly retreated into her own mind.

If several weeks ago on a now-dead planet someone had told her that she would be repeating a Jedi mantra to herself, or that said mantra would be because of Commander Carth Onasi, she would have scoffed. As it was . . .

She straightened up and drew a deep breath before walking out to join Bastila. The younger woman glanced at her out of the corner of her eye as she leaned nonchalantly against the opening mechanism of the ship.

"Anna." Anna grunted. Bastila took it as a yes. "This may not be the best time to –"

"Please . . . not one of your dark side lectures." Anna held up her hand.

Bastila sighed. "You are upset, and you are upset about Carth. Do you not understand what is at stake here? Your . . . _attraction_  . . . to the Commander may –"

"Bastila." Anna's voice cut her off. "Please. Not now."

She nodded, sighing. "I will respect your request."

Anna echoed her sigh, looking back into the Enclave. They were silent for a second. "You look as if something's bothering you."

Bastila shook her head. "Not bothering me. I've merely been thinking recently – despite our bond between us, I know very little about you." Anna shrugged. "Our fates are strongly connected; so connected that a literal  _bond_  has been forged between us. I saw your records when we hired you for the  _Spire_  mission, but nothing beyond that. I know little about you – so I would like to ask you some questions."

"Sure," Anna said tonelessly. Big help this would be, since she knew nothing of her own past anyway.

"Don't worry, this won't be intrusive. To begin . . . what kind of background do you have?"

"Smuggler. Outer Rim," Anna answered. Bastila studied her. She was still staring, emotionless, at the Enclave entrance.

"Where were you born?"

"Deralia," she answered, her voice still flat and lifeless.

"Excellent. Your current age?"

Anna glared at her, stifling a cynical response and finally showing some sense of life. "Twenty-five. This was all in my records, and if you're wondering, that's the  _only_  reason I know any of it. Severe amnesia. It's a wonderful thing, you should try it sometime."

"Yes, well . . . I was studying how you responded. This was a test of your character."

Anna rolled her eyes. "So what did you find out?"

"You were honest, if a little hostile toward the end. And you treated this as a serious matter, which it is. This bond we share will shape both our destinies, and it is not to be taken lightly."

"Great." Anna seemed more withdrawn than Bastila had seen her, shoving her hands in her pockets as she stared back at the Enclave. She sighed.

"Anna, about Carth –"

"I don't want to talk about it, Bastila."

"But it –"

"Carth and I have gotten into it before. It'll pass."

"You aren't –"

"No. We aren't. That isn't the point." Anna chewed on her lip. "The point is that – I  _know_  Carth took Telos hard, and I know he wants back at Karath. But –  _damn it!_  – he's paranoid as hell." She looked down at the ground, taking a deep, shaking breath. "You know what he just said, Bastila?"

Bastila's voice was hardly a whisper. "What?"

"'I am  _not_  going to wait around until I'm betrayed again.' That's what he said, Bastila. Like I'm going to betray him just because the Jedi don't tell anyone  _anything_." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I am  _so tired_  of that man's paranoia."

"Why doesn't he trust you?"

"He smells a rat." Anna glared at Bastila. "And I do too."

"You must trust the –"

"After everything the Jedi have mucked up, I'm not going to trust them." Anna looked back at the Enclave. "But I'm going to do this because stopping Malak is what's right –  _not_  because the Jedi have told me to."

Bastila joined her stare at the Enclave. "The Jedi have no ulterior motives in this, I assure you."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you." A tall, lithe figure wandered out of the Enclave, a small bag in hand. Anna stood straight up and gave a short wave. "Juhani!"

The Cathar drew to a halt, scanning the  _Hawk_. "Is this the vessel we will be traveling in?"

"This is the  _Ebon Hawk_ ," Anna said, motioning to it. "She's saved our lives once already; hopefully she'll keep it up."

Juhani nodded. "I . . .  _appreciate_  your willingness to have me on your ship."

"Follow me. We'll get you set up on the ship." Juhani followed Anna up the ramp, and Bastila brought up the rear. She made an abrupt turn to the left at the top of the ramp. "There are two dorms on the ship. The men took the port dormitory, and us ladies grabbed the starboard. There  _are_  only three beds, but there's at least two pull-down cots. Mission usually sneaks out in the middle of the night and ends up in the cargo hold with Zaalbar, so we'll see if she wants to give up her bed for you." Anna looked around the dorm. "There's no footlocker in here. I'll grab one from cargo for you."

"That is not necessary. I –"

Anna had already disappeared. Juhani looked at Bastila, who sighed. "Yes, she is always like this."

There was a rasping noise as Anna reappeared, dragging a footlocker. "Here you go." She straightened, readjusting the braid holding her usually uncooperative hair back. "Would you like the grand tour?"

Juhani's face remained relatively emotionless, although her eyes betrayed some sense of gratitude. "Yes. It would be beneficial."

"Follow me." Anna led the duo back toward the main hold. Someone was banging at the workbench in the garage as they passed. "So the garage is right there," she pointed. "There's a workbench in there, if you need to repair anything, adjust your lightsaber, whatever. Fresher's right here, on the right. And this is the main hold."

They stepped in. Zaalbar was teaching Mission how to build grenades at the main table, and T3 was – still – working on the synthesizer. Mission looked up as they entered.

"Mish, Zaalbar, this is Juhani. Juhani, Mission and Zaalbar."

Mission waved. "Hi! You're a Jedi too?"

"I am a Padawan like Anna and Bastila, yes."

"This is so cool," Mission said, worming a piece of shrapnel into her grenade. Zaalbar grumbled. "We never saw Jedi on Taris, Big Z."

"You are – were – from Taris?"

Mission frowned. "Yeah."

"T3-M4 is our tech droid over there." T3 chirped. "The synthesizer on this thing sucks, but I think we're close to figuring it out." She pointed. "Med bay is right down there, on the right, and the engine room is at the back. Straight down there is the men's dorm." She trotted toward the cockpit, Juhani following. Bastila stayed in the main hold.

"How is the synthesizer?" she asked. T3 responded with a serious of unintelligible chirps ending with a long raspberry that summed everything up. "That bad?" she sighed. "Well, anyway, we should begin to find the least-repulsive setting on this thing."

"Heh. Living arrangements too rough for you, princess?"

Bastila turned, settling a glare on Canderous as he emerged from the direction of the garage. "I am merely hoping we do not have a repeat of the fare on Taris."

"Ah. Sensitive Jedi tastes." He dropped down at the table, watching Mission and Zaalbar. "You know, speaking of sensitive Jedi tastes, I've been wondering something."  
She glared at him. "What?"

"Heard a rumor that the Vulkars managed to subdue you without much of a fight. Must have been embarrassing to be bested by a handful of street thugs, huh?"

"There were extenuating circumstances – and I can assure it you took far more than a  _handful_."

"Whatever. I just bet, if we'd had more Jedi like you fighting us, we might not have lost."

Bastila bristled. "Bold talk from a broken-down mercenary who was serving at Davik's heel. I'd call you his pet kath, but they are loyal enough not to turn on their masters."

"Insults?" Canderous seemed to be enjoying himself. "Maybe if your Master had trained your lightsaber to be as quick as your tongue, you could have escaped those thugs, you spoiled little Jedi princess."

"I was  _not_  spoiled! I received the same training as everyone else in the Order! You are – no. I will not do this." She leaned back on the counter heavily, closing her eyes. "There is no emotion . . ."

"And that's the problem with you Jedi. Always chanting about peace and control, never up for a good fight." He propped his feet up on the table, checking the barrel of his blaster for nicks. "Well, 'cept for Revan, I guess."

Bastila exhaled sharply through her nose. "Enough, Mandalorian. I won't rise to your bait anymore. This game is over."

"Force, I can't leave you two alone for two minutes before you're bickering?" A voice stated from the door. Anna stood framed in the doorway, hands on her hips. "Sit down. And Canderous, get your feet off the table. That's disgusting. There's no telling what your boots are covered in. It isn't like you clean them."

Canderous grumbled, but dropped his feet to the floor. Anna dropped down at the table, Juhani and Carth following her. Bastila slid into the chair furthest from Canderous, which placed her next to the Cathar. "Okay. So . . . I'm not good at this," Anna admitted. "So, first, welcome aboard, Juhani. I believe you've been introduced to everyone except Canderous. That's Canderous. Canderous, this is Juhani." Anna ignored the immediate tension that sprung up between the Cathar and Mandalorian. She plugged her datapad into the table. "This is what we're looking for."

The glowing, blue orb that Carth, Bastila and Anna had found in the ruins spun into existence over the table. There was a brief, stunned silence.

"What is it?" Mission finally asked.

"It's a Star Map," Anna answered. "We found this in the same ruins that Bastila and I dreamed about. There was a droid there who claimed to be approximately twenty thousand years old, talking about these people called the 'Builders' and a 'Star Forge.'"

"What's a 'Star Forge?'" Mission asked, studying the projection intently.

"We are not sure. It may be a factory or munitions plant of some sort . . . whatever it is, it is our best chance at destroying the Sith war effort."

Anna nodded, and continued. "Either way, you can see that there are five planets highlighted here – Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Korriban, and Manaan." Anna pointed them out. "This planet here . . . Master Dorak checked. We have no idea what planet this is, where it's located, or anything. Best guess, this is where the Star Forge is."

Canderous was still looking over his gun. "Can't we triangulate the coordinates based off the others, and what planets are closest, and –"

She blinked at Canderous' surprisingly useful input, but shook her head. "Apparently the Jedi tried. This map isn't to scale, so it's impossible to figure out precisely where it is or the proper coordinates. Unfortunately, that means we have to actually do legwork." She leaned back in her chair, looking up at the glittering map and crossing her arms. "Who has a recommendation?"

"Tell us what you think, first," Bastila said.

"Personally, I think that Tatooine is a good planet for us to hit first. It's a lot of sand, but that means anything like a Star Map is going to stick out like a sore thumb." She tapped the table. "Probably Kashyyyk after that, and then Korriban."

"Wouldn't it be better to go to Korriban first?" Mission asked.

Anna shook her head. "No. I think we need to give Malak a chance to cool off, and maybe lull him into a false sense of security."

"Korriban's a Sith world. We don't want to just rush into it," Carth said.

"Carth is right. Going to Korriban first would be foolish." Bastila glanced around the table. "I believe Anna's instincts are sound."

"Don't know. We might spend years trying to find anything in that sandpit." Canderous set his blaster, barrel-first, on the floor. "But I ain't got a better plan, so I say we do it."

There were murmured agreements from the others. Anna nodded. "Okay. So now that that's settled . . . who wants dinner?"


	19. Chapter 19

Carth checked the cockpit console, ensuring the ship was ready to go. Everyone else had long turned in, especially after Bastila and Canderous got in another shouting fest after dinner, so hearing quiet footsteps in the durasteel hallway startled him out of his work.

"Carth?"

He turned. Anna stood in the doorway, blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep, and I heard you banging around in here."

"Ah."

She sank down into the copilot's seat as Carth returned to the console. The tension could have been cut by a vibro, and Anna finally cleared her throat. "Sorry. I'm . . ." She stared out the window. "I'm not cut out for this line of work. There's too much _discussion_  and not enough _action._  And out of nowhere I'm important and I'm stuck with this Jedi who can't pull her head out of her ass for longer than a minute and I'm expected to save the galaxy with barely any training and a crew that only has two members not actively engaged in a fight with anyone else. And that's only because one is two and a half meters tall and rips peoples' arms off. I . . . I don't know how to do this, Carth. I don't know what I'm doing. And I have to because if I don't everyone around us dies."

Carth sat down with a sigh, leaning forward on his knees. "It's okay.  _I_ should be the one apologizing. But don't worry; we're all behind you – except maybe Canderous. I suspect he's around because he's bored."

Anna grinned. "I certainly am not paying him." Her face fell. "Why are you here — not that I want you gone, of course. Shouldn't the Fleet have recalled you?"

He frowned. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you. You'd find out soon enough. The Jedi Council asked that I be reassigned to this mission, and High Command apparently readily accepted."

"The Council here or the one on Coruscant?"

"The High Council. On Coruscant."

Anna whistled. "Well. I guess I can thank them for something." She stood with a heavy sigh. "You should get some sleep. We're several days from Tatooine, but I have a feeling that Bastila, Canderous, and Juhani are going to be a handful together."

He laughed. "Yeah, I have a feeling you're right."

#

They lifted off early the next morning, immediately jumping into a nearby smuggler's lane to Tatooine (at Anna's fervent request). Within hours, the small crew had settled into a rhythm.

Anna quickly made it apparent that meals were to be taken together, but the rest of the time was mostly unstructured. The three Jedi usually ended up inside the small storage room, going over the datapads that Vandar and Zhar had sent with them while Mission and either Zaalbar or T3 played Pazaak at the main table. Carth continued to work on the synthesizer, usually enlisting T3's help. Canderous ended up everywhere on the ship, but mostly hung out and banged around on the swoop bike in the garage. Much to Carth's dismay, Anna would work on the bike with the Mandalorian when she wasn't getting lectured by Bastila about the dark side.

It was one of those conversations Carth walked in on two days into their trip.

"-scrunched up like a kinrath pup," he heard Anna say as he walked into the main hold. Mission and Zaalbar were off in the cargo hold making more grenades, and he had no idea where Juhani had run off to, so only Bastila and Anna were in the storage hold. He paced back to the synthesizer.

"A kinrath pup? It is not!" Bastila defended immediately. "I am far too disciplined to betray my emotions with such displays. We both know it is the bond we share that gives you that insight."

"Or it's the fact that your face is all scrunched up. What's up?"

Bastila groaned in what might have been frustration. "Our connection allows us to glimpse into each other's mind." Carth quietly edged closer to the conversation. "We can feel some of what the other feels. And what I feel in you troubles me. A Padawan must receive considerable training, to control their emotions and . . . and their darker impulses. Often it takes years before one is deemed safe. The fact that you have such strength in the Force and such little training – that can lead to terrible consequences. For you, and for all around you."

"You know, you could warn me before I do something bad. Blink once for dark side, twice for light."

Carth didn't need the Force to sense Bastila's reaction. "This is not a joke! The choices you make affect far more than yourself – they affect both our destinies, and the Republic, and the entire galaxy! There is too much at stake for your offhanded mannerisms!" She sighed. "Thankfully you have exhibited compassion and self control, even on Taris. I sincerely hope you can maintain these traits in the future. But you cannot let that lull you into a false sense of security! We must all resist the influence of the dark side! And for you, with your lack of training and your natural affinity for the Force, that is especially important for you!"

By then, Anna had lost most of the jovial tone of her previous statement. "Bastila. Calm down."

Bastila took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I come across as harsh. I'm . . . I'm just concerned. For you, for our mission, and for myself. Anything one of us does will affect the other – so any reckless behavior on your part is likely to affect me as well."

"Doesn't this work both ways?"

"I-I suppose so. I will do my best to guide you, but I am no Master. A-and there are times that I find the sheer strength of your power overwhelming." She sighed again. "Your power could be a gift, or a curse. I only hope that, when you need guidance, or advice, or support, you will come to me. I will do my best to help you stay on the path of light."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Anna comforted. "You need to relax."

Bastila sighed. "Yes, yes, I suppose you're correct. You have yet to show any poor judgment, even if your methods are unconventional, at best." Carth opened the water dispenser quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself and continue eavesdropping. "How have you been sleeping?"

There was a quiet pause. "I've been having nightmares. Since we found you on Taris."

"What are they about?" Bastila's voice sounded uncharacteristically concerned.

"I-I don't know. I wake up suddenly but forget the dream as soon as I do."

"I see." Bastila sighed. "That is troubling, but I am sure it is nothing."

"Yeah." Anna echoed Bastila's sigh. "Tell that to my insomnia."

There was a sound that indicated they were getting to their feet, and Carth retreated to the cockpit. A few minutes later, Anna slipped into the copilot's seat.

"How's the meditating going?" he asked. She groaned.

"Bastila was chastising me for dozing off every two seconds."

He knew the answer to his question, but asked anyway. "You haven't been sleeping?"

"No," she admitted, but changed the subject quickly. "How far are we from Tatooine?"

"Not far," he said. "We should be there by midday tomorrow."

"Excellent." She tucked her knees up to her chest. "I need to find something for Canderous and Juhani to do. Separately."

"Bad behavior?"

"Third time today. I've finally gotten Canderous to stop gloating whenever they're in the same room, but I haven't gotten quite gotten Juhani to stop glaring at him. I'm really hoping the Jedi aren't thinking that I'm going to be a tempering influence on her or anything."

Carth chuckled. "I get the feeling they aren't expecting that."

Anna echoed him. "Same."

"Any idea what we're looking for on Tatooine?"

"Apart from another Star Map? No clue. I'm kind of hoping it'll be right in the middle of Anchorhead, but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen."

"No. We're never that lucky. So what's the plan?"

"Mission's got some business to take care of in the local Czerka office." He glanced at her. "We jumped out for supplies after dinner the night we left Dantooine, remember? She ran into an old friend of hers. Well, not really a friend — I believe the word 'schutta' was used a few times — but her brother's old girlfriend, who said he was working the Czerka mines."

"Oh."

"I'll probably get Zaalbar to take her over to the Czerka office — if they don't get anywhere I'll step in. The rest of us will crash the cantina and feel out local rumors unless something better shows up." She shook her head. "I doubt we'll get too much done after we arrive."

"Yeah." He nodded. "You're probably right."

#

Anna staggered out into the mess the next morning, eyes a little more bloodshot than usual and requiring one more cup of caffa than her usual morning dose. Carth had already been awake, planning on fixing one of the loose couplings in the cockpit before they landed. "What's wrong with you?"

She moaned, dropping into her usual seat. "Slept like hell."

"I noticed." She leaned forward on the table, massaging her temples with her palms. "Anna, what's wrong?"

She held up three fingers and slowly pulled each one down, as if in some sort of count. As soon as the last finger dropped, Bastila stormed into the cockpit, hastily tying her robe with her hair still slightly disheveled from sleep. "That," Anna said simply.

"Did you see it?" Bastila demanded, hardly noticing Carth at the table. "It was like the one we shared on Dantooine! Did you see it? Oh, of course, you must have."

"Yeah, Bastila," Anna said tonelessly.

"Well." Bastila sank down. "Tatooine is known for little more than sand. I find it surprising that there is even a map here, but that seems to prove it."

"It looked like it was in a cave of some sort," Anna replied.

"It would have to be," Carth interjected, making Bastila jump. "It'd have to be protected from sandstorms."

"There are probably many such caves in the Dune Sea. The creatures of this world undoubtedly use them as lairs, as protection against the sandstorms." She nodded at Carth as if to validate his input.

"We'll know soon enough," Anna said, tracing random patterns on the tabletop. "Unfortunately our best bet would be the Sand People or the Jawas . . . And unless we want to be killed on sight, the Jawas are the  _safest_  bet." She sighed. "I hate Tatooine. You always get sand in places you shouldn't get sand, and it always chafes."

Carth choked on his caffa.

#

Anna had stepped so fluidly into control upon landing on the planet that Bastila knew there would never be a chance of getting it back and, to her surprise, she accepted that fairly well.

Apparently, Anna had been planning the venture the entire time they'd been en route. Mission and Zaalbar, after Zaalbar reported some weird discrepancies in the food stores, set out immediately for the Czerka office. The others had hung behind, gathering weapons and whatever gear they deemed necessary for exploring Anchorhead, before stepping out. Almost immediately, things fell apart.

That Twi'lek — oh, that Twi'lek — who'd recognized Bastila just outside the docking bay, and told her that her mother was sick and searching for her, was the first thing that tore to shreds any remnants of Bastila's command. Without missing a beat Anna had sent Juhani and Bastila ahead to the cantina where her mother was waiting, keeping Carth and Canderous with her as she headed on to the Hunter's Lodge.

"Do you think I should go . . ." Carth left the question hanging as the two Jedi disappeared into the thin crowd. Bastila, though she would never admit it, had looked marginally terrified, though whether it was about meeting her mother or not he wasn't sure. Anna shook her head.

"No. We'll be meeting up with them in less than ten, hopefully." She continued towards the lodge, dodging expertly through the crowds. Outside the door, a woman frantically stopped them — whether it was the fact that Anna was female and apparently looked like a welcoming sort or she realized that she was wearing Jedi robes, Carth wasn't sure.

"Please, will you help me?" the woman begged. "I have nothing. Nothing left."

"Get the credits, Republic," Canderous muttered. "Anna's gonna need 'em."

Carth glared at him, but already had his hand in his pocket.

"What do you need?" Anna asked calmly. "My name's Anna. If I can help, I will."

She seemed genuinely relieved. "Oh, thank you. I don't have anywhere else to turn. My — my husband was a hunter, killed out on the dunes. This wraid plate is all I have left. Please, will you buy it?" She looked away, scuffing the desert floor with the toe of her shoe. "I don't need a handout," she continued defensively. "I just can't sell it to Fazza without a license. Please, I'm worried about having it. They're rare, and . . . We spent all our money on my husband's hunting gear. We hoped that the sport would support us. We hoped . . ." She sighed and shook her head. "Whoever killed him took everything. This is all I have left." She finally held up the plate, making Canderous whistle.

"Biggest damn thing I've seen," he said.

"Not surprised there," Carth retorted.

Canderous, to both his and Anna's surprise, chuckled. "Not bad, Republic. Not bad at all."

"But if I could sell it," the woman continued. "The kids and I could get out of here. Maybe . . . buy passage to Coruscant . . . I don't know."

"All right." Anna sighed. "I don't have a license —" The woman sagged. "— Yet. And I don't want to buy it off you and get it for an unfair price. So tell me where I can grab a license and I'll get right back here, and get this Fazza to appraise it, okay?"

The woman nodded and pointed deeper into Anchorhead. "The Czerka office, but I-I thought they had stopped handing them out. Oh." She sagged again. "I'm never going to get rid of this stupid thing."

Anna put her hand on the woman's shoulder as she sagged again, her head collapsing into her hand. "Hey. Don't go there. We'll do this, all right?" She looked over her shoulder. "Carth, stick around. If she's worried about having someone mug her for this thing, you can stop it while I run to the Czerka office. I'll be back as soon as I've got that license."

Carth nodded. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"Canderous." Anna nodded in the direction of the office, and the duo trotted off. Carth turned his attention to the woman Anna was trying to help, who had now collapsed into tears.

"Look," he said quietly, in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "Trust me. She'll come back with a license for you."

"What if she can't get one?" the woman sobbed, trying desperately to rein in her emotion but failing horrifically. "If Czerka stopped handing them out because of the damn Sand People I'll never . . . We'll never . . ."

"Don't worry." Carth rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I know her. Anna. If Czerka isn't convinced to give her a license, which I'd be surprised if they didn't because she just won't stop pushing them until they do, then she'll kick the door in and  _make_  Fazza appraise your plate."

"Why would she? It isn't like she  _knows_ me, I don't even . . ." She sagged even further.

"It doesn't matter. Not to her." He glanced towards the Czerka office. "Not at all to her."


	20. Chapter 20

Anna and Carth left the lodge with less answers than they'd had before. Juhani and Bastila had appeared with the group outside the lodge; Zaalbar had disappeared. "Where're Mission and Zaalbar?" Anna asked.

"The  _Hawk_ ," Canderous answered. Juhani's arms were crossed across her chest, dutifully keeping Bastila between herself and the Mandalorian.

"She probably needed time after dealing with her brother," Carth added.

"I'll talk to her later." Anna turned back to the woman staring at her hopefully. "Here. I got him to take it high. Eight hundred credits."

"Eight hundred — that is more than enough for me to . . ." She took the proffered credits reverently. "You have saved my children's lives, stranger. Thank you."

"Go," Anna said. "Get off this rock. And good luck."

She quickly shoved the credits into her pouch. "For whatever it means, stranger, may the Force be with you." She scurried off into one of the residential districts.

"It's good to know we're still one of the good guys," Carth said quietly.

"As long as we don't need those credits later." Canderous' voice was gruffer than usual. Anna glared at him.

"Only a hundred out of pocket. I convinced Fazza to sell high. Juhani, Bastila, you've been deeper in Anchorhead than we have. You know where the droid shop is?"

Juhani nodded. "Yes. It is towards the main gate, past the cantina. Why?"

"I may have a lead on a droid that speaks Sand People." She paused. "Sand Person? No, that doesn't . . . Either way, I need to investigate this. Who's coming?"

"We're being watched," Canderous said, garnering a nod from Bastila and Juhani. "Started right before you went into the lodge."

Anna nodded. "Stay close, then." They headed forward towards the Cantina. "How's your mom?"

Bastila glanced at her and swallowed. "She is supposedly ill. My father is dead. He was killed by a krayt dragon out on the dunes. She asked me to retrieve his holocron."

"Sore spot?"

"Of sorts." She adjusted the top of her robe. "I have put it behind me."

"Yeah. Sure you have. You going to get it for her?"

"I do not know. Mother is a selfish woman who pushed him into doing what she wished. I have doubts about whether or not she is even ill. She does not deserve his holocron. His private thoughts . . ." Bastila shook her head.

"So you'd keep it."

"I said I do not know." She sighed. "I would have thought my training would have helped with this."

Anna didn't answer, and Bastila instead found her arm suddenly slamming into her stomach and stopping her. Ahead of them stood three masked men wearing dark black robes. Thankfully the street was mostly deserted, it being midday and many off working in the mines.

"And there they are." There was a click as Canderous pulled his blaster off his back. Anna's lightsabers were already, unignited, in hand.

"Lord Malak was displeased when he'd learned you'd escaped Taris alive," the central one, obviously the leader, said.

"Let me guess. You're here to remedy that," Anna retorted.

"Kill them."

Anna flung her on-hand lightsaber at the central Sith, overhand, the switch engaging mid-flight. He dodged it and it boomeranged back as Bastila and Juhani disappeared from either side of them, Juhani flying the several feet it took to engage the left Sith and Bastila sprinting to the right. Anna held her ground, forcing the last to come forward to her.

Canderous and Carth had opened fire, Carth trying to shoot out the one in front of Anna and Canderous aiming for whichever offered the best target at the time. Juhani's went down first, one edge of her double-bladed lightsaber finding an opening between his neck and shoulder and cleanly severing the left half of his torso from the rest of his body. Bastila's was next, falling de-handed and beheaded seconds after the first. Anna had apparently been toying with hers, sending him down in a matter of seconds. There was a brief period of silence as the three Jedi stood with lightsabers still ignited as the few miners and citizens around them gaped, and Anna finally straightened up and shut hers off. "Well," she said matter-of-factly. "That's that."

"How did we not sense this?" Bastila asked, kneeling down to check the apparent leader's pockets. "They must have some information on us, or they would have not known who we were."

"Are there any more?" Carth asked. Anna shrugged.

"We'll find out, I suppose." She clipped her lightsabers back on her belt. "Come on. We still have to check out this droid."

Anna started towards the large gate just ahead of them as civilians began to mill back around the site, and the others followed. Bastila found a datapad in the Sith leader's pocket and quickly flicked it on before pocketing it with a quiet gasp.

The Jedi needed to know about this.

She quickly caught back up to them as Anna pushed open the door to the droid shop, startling another Ithorian wearing a tool belt and working on what looked like a moisture generator.

" _What is this?_ " He barked, almost immediately. " _A customer I don't recognize? Perhaps you bring off-world money to Yuka Laka?_ "

"Depends," Anna said, her eyes immediately drawn to what looked like a red protocol droid in the corner. She had little doubt that it was what they were here for — but at the same time it gave her the strangest sense of deja vu, which she promptly dismissed as the fact that it looked like other protocol droids and she was just on edge because of the assassins.

" _You are lucky to have come at this time_ ," Yuka Laka continued. " _I have one droid ready to go. I just took possession of it — an HK-47 model._ "

"Never heard of it," Carth said quietly. Anna nodded.

"It must be a rare line," Bastila replied. "Have you?"

Anna nodded, but didn't speak. She knew what the HK stood for, and it wasn't going to lower the price if the Ithorian knew.

" _It's a fine protocol translator. I think it's been modified. It claims to understand the Sand People dialect and possesses armor mounts. Combat ready, perhaps? It has some strange quirks, but you can leave it alone if you find its mannerisms amusing. It may be eccentric, but it is stable._ "

"What price are you thinking for it?"

 _"It is a very solid machine. I can't let it go for less than 5000 credits_."

"That's a rip off. We don't have time for this."

"Shush, Mandalorian."

"Back it off, princess, I—"

"Both of you," Anna said irritably before turning back to Yuka Laka. "Is there any way we can go lower?"

" _4000_!" Yuka Laka barked immediately. " _No less!_ "

She raised a brow. "You seem eager to sell."

" _Ah, no, not really. The first figure was a little high. You never know, the occasional person bites immediately._ "

Anna sighed. "4000 is still steep. Can we push it lower?"

" _Lower?_ " Yuka Laka sounded legitimately offended. " _How low are you expecting me to go? These are hard times, and the droid covered a large debt._ "

Anna flexed her hand. She didn't think she going to get him to drop the price without using the Force, and she had a feeling that would go over wonderfully with Bastila and Juhani. "Look," she said sweetly. "Drop it a little lower, and I'll make sure to tell _everyone_  who asks about where I got this droid.  _Everyone_. You want more off-world money? I'm your best bet."

Yuka Laka seemed to think, then nodded its hammerhead. " _2500, but that cuts me deep_." Sure it does, Anna thought.

She sighed. "I'll give you a thousand as a reserve now, and be back tomorrow with the rest." Yuka Laka seemed skeptical until he withdrew the credits from the  _Hawk_  account. "Now, the Mandalorian behind me with the large gun? He's itching to kill something. So if that droid is gone when I come back . . ."

" _I understand, human. I will see you tomorrow. Promptly. With the last fifteen-hundred credits_."

"Yeah." Anna turned on her heel and stalked out.

"Twenty-five hundred credits?" Bastila snapped, as soon as the door had closed. The others looked as skeptical as she was. Anna stalked back towards the docking bay. The suns were beginning to set, and she was not looking forward to being outside on Tatooine after dark. The locals seemed to share her opinion, and were retreating indoors. "What are you doing, Anna? This is out of our reach, it —"

Anna spun on her heel, making Bastila stop inches from her. "It's that or a bloodbath. We either get that droid, or we slaughter an entire village of Sand People tomorrow and somehow managed to sleep tomorrow night."

"We don't  _have_  fifteen-hundred more credits," Carth said. "You know that."

"I may have a solution," Juhani said, interrupting Bastila's beginning tirade. "The people in the cantina were speaking of a large swoop race tomorrow morning."

"How big is the purse?" Anna asked.

"Two thousand."

"We're in business." She sighed. "Looks like I'm working on that swoop tonight. Come on."

They hurried through Anchorhead. "You seem eager to get your hands on this droid," Canderous commented.

"None of you know what an HK model is, do you?" Anna asked. They shook their heads. "Hunter-Killer. It's an assassin droid. That means it most likely  _does_  know the dialect we want. It's rarer than a legitimate translator droid. I never thought I'd see one in person, let alone have the option of buying one."

"Assassin droids are illegal," Bastila chided.

"And this is how much I care," Anna retorted. "It'll be damn useful, and that is that. It's my ass on the swoop tomorrow so if that doesn't work we'll slaughter Sand People and smile while doing it. How does that sound?"

They reached the end of the walk and opened the bay door to the  _Hawk_. Anna jerked to a halt as a dockworker suddenly blocked her way. " _Hello, captain. This is your ship, yes?_ "

"Uh . . ." She glanced back at the others. "Yes. Yes, this is my ship."

" _We've stocked your ship, as requested. There were no hitches in the delivery._ "

"Good. Good. Um . . . What delivery, exactly, was this?"

He gave her a skeptical look before checking his datapad. " _This_ is _docking bay 32, isn't it? Yes, it is, and that's what I have on the requisitions form. Everything is in order. The gizka are your problem now._ "

"The WHAT?" The question didn't come from anyone they expected, but from Canderous.

" _It says right here on the manifest that you ordered a crate of gizka. To be delivered to docking bay 32. That's right here. Now, all I need is your thumbprint for the . . . Wait, where did that datapad go?_ " He sighed. " _At any rate, the gizka are yours. One of the loaders said the crate split open once he put it in your hold . . . Some of them might have gotten loose._ "

Canderous muttered an extremely long and vulgar swear in Mando'a.

" _That happens, I'm afraid. We don't accept liability . . . And we certainly couldn't take the cargo back. Enjoy._ "

He stalked off, and they sprinted towards the  _Hawk_  just in case the damage could be remedied. Mission and Zaalbar met them at the ramp.

"I told them that we didn't order them!" Mission said hurriedly. "They ignored me and put them on anyway and they're everywhere now! It isn't my fault, I swear!"

Anna was suddenly very glad that no one else spoke the same language as Canderous.

#

"Hey."

Carth looked up from the console. "How's the gizka problem?"

Anna sighed. "I bought the poison from the stand outside our bay. I unfortunately do not appear to have the wherewithal to commit the act. Looks like we've got some pet gizka."

"Let Canderous do it."

"And then we have to cart a bunch of dead gizka off the ship." She shook her head as she sank down into the copilot's seat. "Am I crazy? For insisting that we get this droid?"

Carth shook his head. "No. I don't think anyone except for Canderous would support killing an entire village of Sand People — and we wouldn't get any information from them anyway that way. We need to find the Map and they're our best bet."

"I think I just needed someone to say that." She tucked her knees up to her chest. "The swoop's ready to go."

"Good."

"You and Bastila got into it nicely at dinner."

Carth sighed. "We had a disagreement. I'm not surprised she took the Jedi's side." He glanced at her. "What's your opinion?"

"My opinion is that the Mandalorian Wars have been replaced by the Sith and therefore we should stop living in the past," she replied shortly.

"Fair enough."

"Found a weird stowaway in the cargo hold," Anna said, changing the subject. "She's in Mission's care now. She speaks a weird form of Mando'a. Took me a while to figure it out."

"Mission'll take good care of her."

"She's trying to get me to take her to the Sand People village with her." Anna rested her chin on her knees. "I don't want to. Just in case."

"I'm sure she'll stay around when you explain it. If not, Zaalbar's not looking to leave."

"You can keep her here."

Carth stared at her while the words sank in. "How am I —"

"I'm keeping it small. Bastila, Canderous, myself, and the droid. That's it. No more."

"Anna, you're going to need all the help you can get if things —"

"No, Carth. I'm  _not_  taking more. If the party's any larger they'll suspect something. That should be enough to keep suspicions down but let us fight our way out if need be."

"It's suicide! Even if this droid can fire a blaster it —"

"Carth, that's final."

"So suddenly you're in charge? I—"

"No one's argued about it so far! Everyone keeps letting me make the decisions so unless you want to step up I—"

"Maybe I should! Maybe —"

"Well if you didn't keep complaining about being in the loop and — besides, this is a Jedi mission and I certainly don't want Bastila in charge!"

"At least she doesn't make decisions for —"

"I've been making decisions for everyone since Taris! Or have you forgotten those three weeks we spent on that gods-forsaken planet?"

"I never said I'd forgotten about it! I—"

Anna pushed herself to her feet, silencing the argument. "Good night, Commander. I need to speak to Bastila."

"Yeah. Probably a good idea."

"I didn't think you'd care." Anna strode back into the ship proper, leaving Carth nudging a few stray gizka out of the way while cursing — again — under his breath.

As usual she found Bastila meditating inside the women's dorm, which was currently empty. She opened her eyes as Anna closed the door behind her. "You remembered that I needed to speak with you."

"Yeah. I figured it was either that or get nagged into an early grave." Bastila pursed her lips. "Don't give me that." Anna leaned up against the wall. "What do you need?"

"I know that this is strange to speak about, with my problems with my mother, but . . ." The door admitted Juhani, an act that did not seem to stop Bastila's discourse. "I do. I have been watching you. Studying you closely to see what kind of progress you have made since your training at the hands of Master Zhar."

"I didn't know if that was you or Carth," Anna retorted dryly. "So how'm I doing?"

"So far I have seen how you have resisted the Dark Side's lure. I know you are aware that the droid could have been purchased today had you resorted to the Force." A subtle nod was Anna's answer. "You need to see what the dangers are in their entirety, for that is what we battle. Only a Master has the ability to truly explain this, but I will do my best."

Anna sighed. "Look. I fled Taris as it fell around us, and I felt every bomb drop like it was hitting me. I've seen evil, Bastila. I don't need lectures on what it is."

"But what we Jedi face is much more," Bastila said sharply. "It is not just giving into anger or temptation — it grows stronger and more insidious the closer you draw. It begs you to commit small acts, then atrocities, demanding more the more you give. And once you resist, it is too late. It twists you up inside and turns you into a mockery of what you once stood for."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "You seem an expert on the subject."

"She is right," Juhani added.

"I never said she wasn't."

"I am no more resilient than any other," Bastila replied. "I simply have the benefit of training you lack. We need only to examine the atrocities the Sith have committed to understand the dark side's terrible pervasiveness. They commit such things gladly because of its power."

"Fortunately I can't see myself ever doing what Malak has done," Anna answered.

"And that is the problem. You will not until you have fallen too far under its sway."

"Bastila, I have not seen any indication of the dark side in Anna," Juhani interjected. "She falls short, as do we all, but she is honest about it."

"And it is easy to think that we would never fall prey to such horror. You know that yourself, Juhani." She nodded. "If only we had the unlimited control, vigilance and foresight we claim to possess. The Sith have only become so powerful because so many Jedi have succumbed to their seduction. They realize that there is no greater weapon than to turn an enemy to your own cause, and use your enemy's own knowledge against them. We are weakened while they are strengthened. And that is why we must fight the dark side, even when the battle becomes wearying."

"I almost think you wrote that out," Anna said. "Did you write it beforehand? Because that was a stunning piece of literature."

"Anna, this is serious! I—"

"Calm down." Anna held up her hands. "I'm only joking. As usual."

Bastila made a noise of frustration.

"And I want you to come clean with us. About your family." Anna crossed her arms. "Now that your mother's crawled out of the woodwork and you've looked shell-shocked half the day."

"We only wish to help you, Bastila. You speak of the dark side with familiarity and the problems you have with your mother will only hurt your own attempt to stay strong."

Bastila sighed.

"I have not spoken to my family since I was taken into the Order, as is customary. I missed my father terribly for a very long time. Relationships with family members are fraught with powerful emotions and therefore discouraged."

"I doubt that's universal."

"No. There are some who even take husbands or wives and enjoy the relationships they have. But that is usually not the case." She glared at Anna pointedly.

"Me and Carth?" She scoffed. "Not in this universe. We wouldn't be able to stop fighting long enough."

"Be that as it may, you should keep that in mind," Bastila said with a little more harshness than was merited. "And once I was older I realized the wisdom of this policy. Love only obscures and confuses the matter, and impedes the sacrifices we must make."

"But even a Jedi cannot control the feelings of the heart," Juhani said.

"No. We must do our best to guard against it but some sacrifices are harder than others."

"You loved your father," Anna said frankly. Bastila nodded.

"We were very close. But I am sure you've realized that I was on poor terms with my mother. Even as a little girl I was old enough to resent the way she treated my father. She pushed him into treasure hunting — I spent all my life before the Jedi on ships traveling from one hunt to the next. She whittled away his entire fortune on these fool ventures, and I hated her for it. I think she was relieved to give me to the Jedi, but my father was heartbroken."

"I'm sure you didn't have the whole picture," Anna interrupted. "We rarely do as kids. And now you regret that you never spoke to your father again."

"No! I . . ." She sighed. "Perhaps a little. But those feelings are dangerous, and —"

"Bantha crap. Feelings make us human. Anything else and we'd be like Canderous." Anna jerked her head back at the garage.

"And you know so well, don't you? The Force comes with a high cost, and I—"

"And I wouldn't give up my relationship with Mission or Carth for the Force." Anna scoffed. "The Force might use us, but we use it right back. It's a symbiotic relationship and I'm sure that having a few attachments isn't enough to send you to Force Hell or wherever Sith go."

"I would not be so flippant about it," Bastila retorted. "That is dangerously close to a Sith viewpoint."

"Let me get my planet-destroying lasers then," Anna replied sardonically. "Look, there's a difference between being evil and actually having a reason to live."

"It is still a viewpoint—"

"So? I never wanted this. I was forced into being a Jedi by the damn Council and, don't worry, I'll do my job. There's enough suffering in this universe as it is and I don't have to add to it, so that should pretty solidly make me a decent person. And when this is over I'll leave, the Jedi never have to see me again, and I'll live out the quiet life I'd like to have somewhere away from you all. Now if you don't mind, I have a swoop to go over."

Anna turned on her heel and strode out of the dorm, stopping only to poke her head back in. "Also, you should find out why your mother wants your father's holocron. I'm sure you only have part of the story and it would behoove you to find out the rest before making a decision."

As the door closed, Juhani looked at Bastila. "I have been there, Bastila. I do not believe she is at risk."

Bastila stared at the door after the retreating smuggler-turned-Jedi. "No, Juhani," she said quietly. "That is not what worries me." She stood. "I must speak to the Council."

Juhani stood. "Bastila, this is not —"

"It is not about our conversation." Bastila left, more quickly than merited, and Juhani sank back onto her bunk.


	21. Chapter 21

****

The first thing they noticed as they walked through the Czerka Office door was the chaos.

Mission stood, fists clenched, in a corner of the office next to Zaalbar. The Wookiee had one big, furry paw on her shoulder. The uniformed woman, whom they could only assume was the head of the office itself, stood in the other corner in front of an irate Duros, who was currently shouting at her. The words were flying fast — almost too fast for Anna to catch anything except for the Duros' proclamation that Czerka couldn't "murder a whole village" before storming out, roughly shouldering her in the process and only offering "corporate evasion" as an excuse.

"Damn," Canderous commented.

Anna stepped forward to the now unoccupied project head, quickly joined by the other two.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, sounding spectacularly bored. "These are the offices of the Czerka Corporation. I trust you have business with the company? If this is about employment, I'm afraid all regular mining positions are full. And before you ask, we are also no longer selling hunting licenses."

"Or telling people about their family!" Mission snapped. "She wouldn't tell me anything, Anna! And I know she knows where Griff is!"

"Oh, so the Twi'lek is with you." The Czerka officer's voice changed from bored to poisonous. "I must ask that you leave then. I cannot —"

"Look," Anna started. "I'm having a very trying day. I already hate Tatooine on a regular basis, I have two crew members on the verge of breakdowns, and my pilot is currently alone in front of the hunting lodge with a sobbing young woman that I need to help. To top it off, you thought I was here for  _employment_. Please. Do I  _look_  like a miner? I'm here on Jedi business and I'm under the impression that I need a license to leave Anchorhead. I'm also told that you're the only people I can get one from."

"As I said, we are no longer selling them. There are too many people cavorting about outside the walls as it is."

Anna sighed. "I'm going to reiterate this extremely slowly so that perhaps you can understand what I'm talking about. I'm . . . here . . . on . . .  _Jedi_  . . . business."

"And as  _I_  said, we . . . are . . . no . . . longer . . .  _selling_  —"

"Hold on." Anna held up her hand. "Look. This has direct benefits for you. As in, if you don't let me out of there, the galaxy is going to get destroyed, and that includes you. Therefore, you  _and_  Czerka Corporation get remembered as the organization that destroyed life as we know it. If we can just get some synergy going here, it would profit the company in the long run." She could feel Canderous and Mission staring at her blankly. "What?"

"Oh." The office manager rubbed the back of her neck. "Why didn't you just say that? I might be able to make an exception . . . If you agree to perform a minor task for us in return."

"It's never easy." Anna sighed. "Sure. What sort of task?"

"There's a Sand People village near here. They're conducting more raids on sand crawlers and we believe they are moving closer to Anchorhead. They need to be wiped out. I will give you a bounty for every gaffi stick returned, and a hunting license, if you agree to do this."

Anna replied with a short, nervous laugh. "I'm not wiping out an entire village of Sand People."

"Then I won't give you a hunting license, and —"

"Fine." Anna waved her off. "I'll stop the attacks, or at least I'll stop the ones from this particular village."

"Pleasure doing business with you." The office manager handed over a license, a thin, nondescript piece of plastic. "Now just so we understand each other, this is a legally binding contract. Czerka Corporation takes this very—"

"—Seriously and you'll own me if I don't uphold my end, I know. Now about my friend's brother . . ."

"I will tell you what I told her. We have no record of him. Now I must insist you —"

"Come on," Anna said sweetly, with the most imperceptible movement of her hand. "You can tell me. I excel at making problems go away."

The change that came over the office manager was almost instantaneous and just as beautiful. "Oh, you mean  _that_  Griff. Of course I remember him. Horrible worker, always complaining and faking injuries and illness to get out of work, entering false time sheets, sleeping through his shifts . . . We even suspected him of stealing supplies, though we could never prove it."

"That's Griff, all right," Mission said with a heavy sigh, rubbing her forehead with her palms.

"So where is he?"

"We would have fired him, but we were desperate for workers. Would have been better for him. He went missing in the last big attack on our cruisers. We sent rescue parties for the prisoners but no one was ever found alive. We never found his body, so we can only assume he was taken prisoner. In the end, it just wasn't cost effective to keep searching. All workers sign waivers of liability that absolve us in these circumstan—"

"So that's it?" Mission asked. "He's dead? And you just  _left_  him there—"

"Mish." Anna held up her hand. "You treat all your workers this way?"

She scoffed. "Czerka Corporation cares deeply for all is employees. That's why we've started this bounty program to thin the Sand People's numbers. Now, really, I'm very busy and I must ask you to leave."

"Fine." Anna turned on her heel and they started out of the office. Once outside, Anna glanced back at Canderous. "Do you have your flask?"

With a confused look, he produced it. She uncapped it, downed a swallow of the bitter alcohol inside, and recapped it. "Sorry," she apologized. "I hate speaking corporate."

" _You!_ " They glanced to their right, where the Duros from earlier suddenly appeared, looking as irate as before. " _Don't you believe a word Czerka said in there! There is always a peaceful solution to conflict! They are just lazy!_ "

"Sabu' _droten_ , people don't pay attention," Anna said.

"I didn't know you knew Mando'a," Canderous interjected.

"And you need to watch your mouth." She looked back at the alien. "Killing an entire village of Sand People is not  _exactly_  my idea of a good time, so I'm hoping you've got an idea for a better way of doing it?"

The Duros seemed shockingly taken aback by Anna's statement, and his mouth moved silently for a few seconds. "Well?" She pressed. He blinked.

" _I-I don't know. I just_ know _they can be reasoned with, but no average translator can understand them._ "

"Then we're back to square one," Mission said.

" _There was even a Jedi here a few years ago that couldn't seem to get through. I . . . think that ended in bloodshed, too._ "

"This is a waste of time," Canderous said. "We don't have time to find someone to talk to them. It's better to just get it over with."

"Hush, you."

" _Maybe a real translation droid, not these protocol scrap heaps, would be able to get through._ "

"And we can just pick one up somewhere on Tatooine?"

"Canderous. Let him talk."

" _I'm sure I heard something about an unusual droid here on Tatooine. I know translation droids are rare even on the Core worlds, but this one might be legitimate. I'm sure I heard Yuka Laka say it could speak a Sand People dialect . . . But he would say that rust was gold to make a sale. And perhaps with their robes as a disguise, someone could get into their enclave._ "

At some point during the exchange, Anna's eyes had lit up. "Sir, you may very well be a genius, you know that?"

The Duros looked taken aback. " _I . . . No, I did not._ "

"Granted, I'm not sure how they'd feel about me sneaking into their enclave wearing the robes of their dead but one thing after another, right?" She grinned. "Have an excellent day."

As she headed back towards the hunting lodge, followed by a confused Mission, Zaalbar, and Canderous, the Duros stared after her, blinked several times, and wandered off in a state of confusion.

Meanwhile, Anna returned to Carth and the now-not-sobbing woman in front of the hunting lodge. "I have a license," Anna said. "Carth, we'll go into the lodge. Mish, Zaalbar, Canderous, stay out here with her, okay?"

Mission nodded. "We've got it."

The woman handed over the plate. "Please come back," she said quietly. "This is all I have."

"And you'll have the credits in return for it, I promise," Anna assured her before opening the door and stepping into the lodge.

Surprisingly, it wasn't dusty though it was smoky — the lodge patrons apparently liked their smoking as much as cantina goers — and the bright sunlight from Tatooine's twin suns filtered through the enormous skylights to flood the building with light. They were immediately accosted by an Ithorian, and Anna somehow wasn't surprised to find an Ithorian running the place  _or_  spotting them immediately.

" _Do you have your license?_ " She held it up. " _Welcome to the hunting lodge. My name is Fazza_."

"Yeah. I know. So, I've got something here." She handed him the wraid plate. He took it and eyed it, holding it up to the light. She almost expected him to find a jeweler's monocle and start studying it microscopically.

" _So I see,_ " he finally said. " _That's the biggest desert wraid plate I've seen in a season. Whoever got that was a skilled hunter. I've got a premium price for this — there's a buyer who has put in a special request. Does 500 credits sound fair?_ "

Anna crossed her arms and scratched the back of her head. "Weeell, I don't know," she said. "Frankly, this bastard nearly took my friend's arm off." For emphasis, she grabbed Carth's wrist and wriggled his arm. "Look. Barely held on. He won't take his chestplate off because then everyone'll see that the only reason his arm got saved was because of some Corellian repair tape and a kolto bandage. It's a bit of a sore spot."

Carth jerked his arm out of her hand. "Is not," he replied hotly.

" _I can go to 700, but any more and it should be covered in gold_."

Anna grinned. "700. Done. Pleasure doing business with you." He handed over the credits, and she pocketed them. "Now, who would be a good person to talk to if I needed to ask about something specific?"

Fazza shrugged. " _Anyone in here would know. Whether they would help you is a different story_."

Anna sighed. "Thanks." Fazza plodded back towards the pazaak table in the corner, and Anna looked back at the pilot. "May as well go table by table."

Carth nodded. "You do the talking."

She grinned back over her shoulder as she started for the first one. "Oh, please. I thought that was a given."

The man she was headed for was downing some sort of foul liquid they could smell from the other side of the table, boots propped up in front of him. "Excuse me," Anna started. He looked up and suddenly brightened.

"Well, hey there," he replied, hooking his fingers behind his head. "What can I do for a gem like you? You know, very few human women come to Tatooine . . ."

Carth took a possessive step forward. "You talk to her with a bit of respect in your voice," he threatened. "Or you'll end this conversation minus a few teeth."

"Whoa." Tanis held up his hands. "Let's just calm down, shall we? No offense to your lady friend was meant."

Carth bristled, but Anna shook her head and gripped his forearm. "I was hoping you could help me," she answered. "I'm looking for something."

"Well, darlin', I bet ol' Tanis is just what you need."

"Force," Anna murmured, hardly loud enough for Carth to hear. "Every man in the galaxy is a scumbag." She leaned down on the table, meeting Tanis at eye level. "What I'm looking for is old. Ruins, probably. Might attract a lot of animals. You heard of anything like that?"

"Nah. Don't go looking for ruins." He re-laced his hands behind his head. "I keep it simple, beautiful. Keep me and the wife fed and keep my droids runnin', that's it. And the only people who know the dunes better'n me are the Sand People." He chortled.

"Doubt that," Carth said quietly. Anna nodded. The lodge was full of hunters — someone must have seen something.

"Ever seen them with something odd?" She continued. "The Sand People, that is. Or the hunters."

"Yeah. Heh. My blood. They got me good last year. Tore up two of my battle droids. The wife was pretty mad about that."

Anna sighed, pushing off the table. "Have a nice afternoon," she said insincerely.

"Come back any time you need some help," Tanis offered with the sort of wink that only accompanies a double entendre. Anna turned on her heel and stalked towards a table of Gamorreans with Carth right behind her.

"If I never see him again," she murmured. "Force, my skin is  _still_  crawling."

Carth glared back at Tanis, who was still staring after them. He seemed to get the memo and dropped his feet off the table, paid for his drink, and stalked out.

They were never going to get anywhere in here.


	22. Chapter 22

The next day, Anna strode into Yuka Laka's droid shop two thousand credits richer, bringing the current credit count back up to four thousand, and about to purchase an assassin droid.

She never thought she'd say that.

Canderous and Bastila waited by the door as she stepped forward, attracting the Ithorian's attention. "Brought you your two thousand credits," she said. "Where's my droid?"

" _In the corner_." He waved, far more interested in her credits. " _I'll deactivate the restraining bolt when you take possession. It's a good purchase, especially if it speaks a Sand People dialect like it said. Of course, I don't think it was telling me everything, but not many droids are programmed to lie._ "

Anna forced a smile. "No, not many are. Pleasure doing business with you."

He waved her off, and she moved over to the droid. It whirred to life, affixing her with slit red eyes.

"Statement." It started. "I see you have purchased me, master. I find this a satisfactory arrangement. My restraining bolt will be deactivated when you take possession of me. Am I to accompany you now? Shall I kill something for you?"

"Kill something for me?"

"Answer: Indeed. I am most eager to engage in some unadulterated violence. At your command, of course, master."

Anna held up her hand, suspicions fully confirmed. "You can use weapons, correct?"

"Answer: Affirmative."

"Were you lying about being able to speak a Sand People dialect?"

"Answer: Negative, master. I am fully capable of communicating with the meatbags. May we leave now, master? I am eager to get away from the talentless organic meatbag that attempts to pass as a certified droid mechanic."

"Come on." She popped the bolt off herself without waiting for Yuka Laka's involvement. He moved an arm, almost as if stretching.

"Statement: I am certain you will make adequate use of my primary functions. My gears are practically quivering with anticipation."

"So what do I call you?" Anna asked, dropping the bolt to the ground.

"Statement: My designation is HK-47."

"Great. Come on." She headed back to Bastila and Canderous, and then into Tatooine's just-about-afternoon sun. "Bastila, Canderous, this is HK-47. HK-47, you aren't allowed to kill them."

The droid made some sort of disappointed whirring noise. Canderous chuckled. "This'll be interesting."

#

Carth sat, staring blankly, at the main table for most of the day while pretending to have only the most cursory interest in Mission and Zaalbar's pazaak game. Out of all of them only Juhani and Zaalbar had taken Anna's decision well; Mission had wanted to go along only for the hope of finding her brother, and Carth still didn't like the idea of it being such a small group that had gone to interact with the Sand People. He'd spent the rest of of the day banging around in the synthesizer with T3 or trying to repair some of the damage Anna had done to the swoop that morning, but it didn't change the fact that he hadn't been paying attention to what he or anyone else was doing on the ship.

He knew that Anna was smart, and that she probably knew what she was doing. He knew that she had a strategic mind the likes of which he'd only seen once before. And from what he'd seen the day before and from what he'd seen on Taris he knew she Dwas more than capable of taking care of herself. Besides, she had Bastila and Canderous and that new droid with her and therefore she, at least, wasn't alone. And two Jedi, a blaster-happy mercenary, and a combat droid should be more than enough to let them fight their way out of the Sand People's village, even though he knew she was trying to avoid that if at all possible.

There was the sudden sound of the ramp lowering, which sent Mission sprinting into the garage frantically. A few minutes later she came back almost in tears and disappeared into the women's dormitory with Anna, Bastila, Canderous and the droid following more slowly. Anna dropped down at the table looking exhausted; the other two followed quickly.

"I hate Tatooine," she murmured. Her red hair was nearly yellow from sand — Bastila's didn't look much better. "All right. This is HK-47, he'll be joining us." She dug her palms into her forehead.

"How'd it go?" Carth asked. She glanced up at him.

"Canderous wore a dress."

This garnered a small laugh from most of those gathered — Bastila and Juhani didn't partake, and Canderous' response was a low growl. "It wasn't a  _dress_."

"Looked like one." She snickered. "Anyway, we got through to the Sand People, worked out a deal." She sighed heavily. "Unfortunately I get to go fight it out with Czerka tomorrow. Their demands were a pair of moisture vaporizers from the Czerka store."

"So you're going to buy the vaporaters?" Carth asked. Anna nodded.

"I'm not going to wipe them out. The Sand People have been here longer than any of us, they have more of a right than any of us to be here." She leaned back heavily in her chair, slumping slightly. "Canderous, Bastila, HK-47, we'll set out in the morning and purchase the vaporaters, and hopefully the Sand People will live up to their end of the bargain." She nodded curtly. "Carth, Juhani, you'll join us to head out to the Star Map's location, provided we get it. I'll need you to stock up for an extended trip into the desert, just in case. We may be there overnight, which will require temperature appropriate gear." He nodded in reply.

"And water will be an absolute must. We'll leave Mission, T3, and Zaalbar to watch the ship, just in case." Anna pointed between the Cathar and the Mandalorian. "And if  _either_  of you get ansty, I'll send you back to the ship. Are we good?"

"I understand, Anna," Juhani replied quietly.

"Yeah. Got it."

Canderous and Bastila merely nodded exhaustedly.

"Great." She got to her feet. "I claim the 'fresher. I've got sand in places I didn't know sand could go." Carth snorted, and she cast him an amused, knowing look before shuffling off towards the small room. Bastila sighed, standing and heading towards the ramp, likely to try and shake some sand out of her hair. Canderous proceeded to kick his boots off, shaking sand out of them directly onto the floor.

T3 let out a beep that could only be a sigh, and began to brush it away.

#

"Bastila."

Bastila looked up from her breakfast, mouthing a spoonful of something barely edible on her place. "Yes?"

Anna pushed a lump of something else around on her plate, brow furrowed like she was trying to figure out what it was. "Why did the Council send me with you? Why not . . . I don't know, Vander? Keep me for training?"

Bastila had known this conversation would occur at some point. Anna wasn't stupid — in fact, and not just because of who she had been, she was one of the most intelligent Jedi she'd ever met. And in an order where power was respected and humility was supposed to be important but rarely went hand in hand with that power, she was one of the strongest Jedi she'd ever met. That knowledge, coupled with Anna's identity, still made her stomach churn. "Why?" She shrugged. "I could not accomplish this on my own. I needed others — especially someone who is strong in the Force, and the bond between us made you a natural choice."

"Ah yes. The 'bond.'" Anna frowned.

"Besides, the events on Taris proved that the Force wanted to bring us together for this mission, and there is little left to chance when the Force is involved. Isn't that enough?"

"Would I be asking if it was?" Anna shook her head. "It's just odd that Vrook or someone didn't at least tag along."

Bastila returned to her breakfast. "I admit that I wondered if this was more than just another mission, perhaps a test from the Council of my abilities."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "I get the feeling it's more than that."

She swallowed. "I wondered if the Council wanted to see how I would guide you. I wondered if it was a test to see if I could handle the responsibilities of a Jedi Master. But . . ." She sighed. "The galaxy is at stake. They would not use this for that. Sending a Master with us would have drawn unwanted attention, after all. They calculated the risks and chose the only option."

Anna shook her head. "There's something else. There has to be."

"You have to trust the wisdom of the Council. You musn't be so impatient."

"Me? You thought this was your big audition for Master-hood." Anna scoffed. "I don't need another lecture, Bastila."

"Do you take pleasure in being so frustrating?!"

Anna shrugged. "If amusement is pleasure, yes."

"I had a moment of foolish pride, but that was it! I am  _attempting_  to help you and complete this mission and you insist on battling me at every turn!"

"I have to get my kicks somehow."

"Driving me insane is your idea of a good time?"

Juhani wandered into the hold, hissing a little at the synthesizer as she realized that T3 hadn't managed to fix it yet.

"Calm down. I'm kidding"

Bastila sighed. "I must admit that I simply don't know how to deal with someone like you." Anna munched on her food with a slightly satisfied look on her face. "I don't know if I should be outraged that you keep joking about serious matters or grateful that you continually attempt to lighten the mood."

"Probably the latter." Anna nodded at Juhani as she sat down. "Morning."

"Good morning."

"You're going to have to tell me the truth someday, Bastila," Anna said quietly, her voice trailing off as Carth emerged, rummaging around in one of the cabinets. Bastila merely nodded.

Yes, someday she was, and that would  _not_  be a good day.


	23. Chapter 23

Anna drew in a deep breath as the Star Map, almost as if it sensed her presence, opened to emit the brown central control node and bloom into its shimmering blue and white map. Juhani drew a sharp breath behind them; Canderous' reaction was more of a confused "huh."

"Anyone think that finding this in the back of a krayt dragon's cave is probably a little more than a coincidence?" Carth asked, as Anna inserted her datapad into the small slot crafted for it.

"The Star Map is an artifact of the dark side," Bastila replied, obviously not willing to go any closer to it. "It is likely that the creature was drawn here by its power, and became enslaved by it."

"Or that it thought this would be a nice place to bunk down," Canderous replied. Bastila glared at him.

"Whatever it was," Anna said as her datapad popped out, data safe on it. "I don't think there's anything else on this frakking sandpit. Let's get going."

There was a general nod of agreement and they started back towards the cave entrance. Juhani drew to a stop first, her eyes closed.

"C'mon," Canderous snapped in her direction. "Suns'll be down soon. We don't want to be out here after dark."

"There is a large number of men waiting for us," Juhani snapped back, earning a bit of a glare from Bastila. "It would be wise to scout their numbers."

"Then go, Juhani," Anna ordered immediately. Juhani nodded and suddenly disappeared from view, and she calmly activated her energy shield. "It appears our friends found us."

"Any ideas?" Canderous asked. Anna shook her head.

"None. Someone we aren't going to like, that's for sure."

Juhani re-emerged from the shadows near them. "It appears to be several mercenaries, no more than twelve."

"Did you get a look at their leader?"

"It appeared to be a short human in a turban."

Carth glanced at Anna, who had suddenly gone parchment-white. Canderous looked skeptical. "Did you get a look at the rest of his clothes?" the Mandalorian demanded.

"A blue overcoat of some kind. I—"

Anna suddenly let loose a violent string of profanity. "That bastard is lying  _dead_  in a pile of rubble on Taris!" she snapped, at no one in particular. "There is no way in  _hell_ he made it off that planet!"

"Calo's a stubborn bastard," Canderous said. "He might have survived. It would explain how the Sith have such perfect descriptions of the three of us." He motioned between Anna, himself, and Carth. "And if it is him, I vote we make  _damn_  sure he's actually dead this time."

"Agreed." Anna checked both of her lightsabers. "Canderous, Bastila, we'll head forward. Juhani, get around to their left flank. Carth, see if you can get cover behind the dragon's tail once the fighting starts. I want them flanked on both sides — we can't _exactly_  get around their back but I doubt they'll be retreating. I'm sure our friend Malak put quite the price on our heads." She waved them ahead.

"You going to be all right?" Carth murmured as he walked past her.

"I'll be fine," she replied. "Go."

Juhani disappeared, and Carth headed to take cover in the front of the cave. Anna carefully strode forward, fingers white around her lightsabers. Canderous clicked his blaster cannon threateningly, and Bastila seemed calm as always. Anna stepped out into the light of the twin suns and, sure enough, Calo Nord's visor-hidden eyes turned towards her.

"You got lucky back on Taris," he said.

" _I_  got lucky?" Anna retorted. "You were the one that had the floor fall on him."

Canderous snorted.

"You think you're clever, do you?"

"More than you, at least."

"Calo," Canderous interrupted, a bit more venom than usual in his tone. "Taking on partners? Must be getting soft."

Calo frowned around his visor, then looked back at his mercenaries. "Okay, boys. It's showtime."

Anna held out her hand, flinging her saber towards the group of mercs. Calo ducked, but the mercenaries on either side of him weren't so fortunate. Canderous opened fire.

"Go on," he barked. Anna nodded as she and Bastila sprinted forward.

"Carth! Juhani!" she yelled over the blaster-fire. An answering burst exploded from the top of the krayt dragon, where Carth had managed to perch himself, and Juhani dropped her camouflage in the middle of the merc group.

Bastila noticed Anna shy away from Calo himself and stepped between the two, meeting his vibrosword with her lightsaber. He grinned ferally but didn't speak.

Anna panted as she disarmed, in a rather literal sense of the word, one of the Duros mercs. Calo was doing fairly well for himself against Bastila's double-blade, but Bastila was having problems finding an opening for the sometimes unwieldy weapon. Calo swung low, forcing her into an awkward block that Anna knew Bastila had problems coming out of. His next swing would go high — it was unlikely that Bastila would be able to change her parry quickly enough. Sure enough, the other Jedi ducked rather than meet his blade, the vibro whipping inches over her head. Anna braced herself and made her move.

Keeping her lightsabers clenched tight in her hands even as she deactivated them, she threw all of her lean weight into Calo's knees. The duo rolled for several feet, the man struggling to pin her underneath him as she tried to get room to reactivate her blades. She slammed her fist into his visor, throwing one lightsaber to the sand for better flexibility. He countered with his own strike, dazing her long enough to trap her against the sand and almost instinctively — so instinctively that she had no idea what had happened for several moments — she lashed back out in the Force with an angry huff. Whatever she'd done forced Calo off her, face scrunching in pain as a sharp hiss escaped his bared lips; Anna lay panting as he was suddenly hauled back further from her by a rough hand, then swiftly executed by a repeating blaster round to the face.

Canderous repeated the shot, then turned and extended his hand to help her to her feet. "Can you warn us next time you try to tackle a guy twice your size?"

Anna winced, probing the swelling on the side of her face. Blood was already trickling from her cut and swelling lip, leaving a coppery taste back in her mouth. "I'll keep that in mind next time." She caught Bastila staring at her, and frowned. "You see something you like?"

Bastila didn't even respond with her traditional eye-roll. "That power you used was not something you've learned from us."

"That matters?"

"It was a dark power," she added, disgust evident in her tone.

Anna scowled. "Then I'll let you take a vibro to the head next time."

"You need to be careful. The consequences of your actions—"

"Carth, Canderous," Anna interrupted with an even deeper scowl. "Check the bodies. Calo must have something of value." With that, she stalked back towards the dunes. Ostentatiously, it was to secure the area, though no one doubted there was at least one ulterior motive. Bastila sighed and started to follow, but Juhani stopped her.

"I do not believe you should speak with her."

"She is not your responsibility," Bastila retorted.

"She's also about to rip your face off," Canderous replied with a light chuckle from where he was currently stripping Calo's armor, turning the pieces over in his hands.

"Fine." Bastila's surrender came with its typical exasperated tone. Juhani nodded and left, making her way to where Anna was visible, arms crossed as she watched a pack of wraid cross the sand.

#

"That droid," Mission stated, nodding her head towards the garage. "I don't trust him."

Zaalbar made a noise of agreement.

She dealt the next hand. "Think he'll go blaster-happy on us?"

He shrugged.

"Think they found the whatchamacallit?"

Another shrug.

Mission sighed. She loved Zaalbar dearly, but he really wasn't much of a conversationalist.

"We're going to Kashyyyk next. You excited to go home?"

Another no.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

Another no.

"All right." She shrugged. "Your move."

The ramp opened, and their heads turned towards the garage. The others staggered in, turned nearly yellow from the sand, and collapsed at the table.

"Did you find it?" Mission asked. Anna nodded wordlessly.

"Found Calo Nord too," Canderous added gruffly. Mission's eyes widened.

"But I thought he was dead!"

"So did we," Carth replied. "And he is now."

"For certain, after someone severed his head." Bastila spoke for the first time, with the same distaste she'd had on the dunes.

"Bastila . . ." Anna groaned, rubbing her forehead. "There is no part of the Jedi code that says 'thou shalt not sever the head of thine enemy to ensure deadness.'"

"It was unnecessary."

Whatever patience Anna had been trying to cultivate snapped. "Oh, shove off," she snapped, pushing away from the table and storming for the fresher. Bastila sighed, pressing a palm into her forehead.

"Wow," Mission said, staring after her. "What's eating her?"

"She used a restricted Force power," Bastila answered. "She doesn't see why it's wrong."

Carth rubbed some sand off his forehead. "Well, maybe if you wouldn't lecture her all th—"

"Of course you would take her side, Onasi," the Jedi snapped.

"Calm down, princess," Canderous added, holding his hands up. "She only did it once. Maybe if you weren't on her ass all the time she'd actually listen to you, since that's what you want."

"The last I checked," Bastila replied sharply. "It was none of your business, Mandalorian."

"Ooho! Must have hit a button to get that reaction."

"Ordo, just . . ." Carth sighed, waving his hand. "Just let it go. We're all under a lot of stress right now. We're just taking it out —"

Bastila stood, shaking sand out of her robes, and disappeared. Mission rubbed her forehead. "Wow."

He sighed. Canderous stood, picking up his rifle. "Lemme know when she's done," he said, jerking his head towards the fresher. "I've got sand in places sand shouldn't be."

Carth waved his hand, too exhausted to fight. Tatooine's heat was murder. The others trickled to their own parts of the ship slowly, and he rubbed his forehead.

Damn. He wasn't used to doing the policing — it was usually Anna's job, far more capable of getting the disparate groups aboard the  _Hawk_  to stop fighting long enough to cooperate, not him.

This was going to be a long night.

#

Anna disappeared the rest of the afternoon, curious sounds coming from the garage indicating that she was working on the swoop bike, possibly intending to race it for more credits. The next morning, Carth was awake early to prepare the  _Hawk_  to leave, checking for alerts along their route to Kashyyyk with a short trip by Dantooine to drop off their stowaway. He wandered back into the main hold, surprised to spot Anna and the little blonde girl sitting at the table, the girl shoveling oatmeal into her mouth greedily and Anna staring blankly at her datapad. He fetched two glasses and filled them with water, pushing one over as he sat down next to her. She glanced up and made a noise that may have signaled thanks, and took a deep drink.

"I really don't want to be in charge," she said quietly. He didn't answer, staring down at the glass in front of him. "It just happens, and no one else steps up, and —"

"Anna, I'm sorry," he interrupted. She looked up at him. "Look, I just don't like not having a say in things. But the others answer to you so . . . It makes sense."

"I think we should be an oligarchy," she answered. "Since Bastila wants to control me so badly."

He shook his head. "Anna, she —"

"Bantha shit. She meant it." Anna rubbed her forehead with her palms, dropping her datapad. "They've got me so damn scared of the dark side that I slip once and nearly have a panic attack."

"They're just as scared as you are."

"I know, but . . . but we're  _humans_ , we make mistakes. I mean, I don't  _feel_  evil or anything."

Carth patted her arm. "So you messed up. It's all right, gorgeous. No one's taken your lightsaber, have they?"

She grinned, though the expression looked more like she'd just smelled something awful and was trying not to retch and less like she was . "Not yet."

"Anna, look . . ." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I've been a real ass, haven't I?"

She waved her hand. "It's fine."

"No it isn't. I—"

"Carth." She covered the hand on her arm with her own. "Carth, just promise to work with me for once."

He grinned. "You got it." She grinned back, and their hands parted quickly as Canderous strolled in, shirtless, muscles rippling as he stretched and wandered towards the synthesizer. The girl's eyes widened, and she suddenly pressed herself against Anna's side. Almost absently, she wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.

"What's for breakfast?" Canderous asked, eying the settings.

"What're you cooking?" Anna retorted, absentmindedly stroking the girl's hair as she rolled her eyes and returned to the datapad.

Carth watched her as she struggled once again to triangulate the Star Forge's location with the new information, and he shook his head. "Why don't you bring it up on the projector?" he suggested. She glanced at him, nodded, and plugged the datapad into the table. The glistening blue map appeared, four known planets and one unknown shimmering into life. Canderous sat down, munching on whatever he'd scrounged up, and studied it intently.

"We any closer?"

"No," Anna replied, staring at it. She drew some lines on her datapad, which then appeared on the map. "The map on Tatooine was just as damaged as the one on Dantooine. We're not a damn step closer to finding this thing." She sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. "This is going to take forever."

Canderous swallowed his mouthful with a toothish grin. "Aren't you guys always on about patience and shit?"

"Candy, when have I ever gone on about 'patience and shit?'" Anna asked.

Canderous scrunched his forehead. "'Candy?'"

Anna snickered. "Well, do you know how hard it is to yell 'Canderous' in a hurry?"

"You could always use 'Ordo.'"

She scoffed. "Yes, but you know me by now. If there's a limit, I'll push it." She looked back at the pilot, one finger idly tapping her datapad. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah," Carth replied, with a brief, affirmative nod. "Whenever you give the order."

She sighed heavily and nodded again. "Good." Another glance at the map drew the corners of her mouth down again, and she closed the map. "This is crap," she murmured.

"Anna," Bastila's voice called from one of the corners of the ship. Anna rubbed her forehead, the corners of her lips dropping impossibly farther.

"Duty calls," she said heavily and with the smallest hint of sarcasm before laboriously pushing herself back from the table and shuffling towards the cargo hold, recently appropriated as a training and meditation room by Bastila after the small storage bay proved too public. Just before she disappeared they caught the sight of her shaking her head, and Sasha climbed onto Carth's lap, her eyes locked in terror on Canderous. The Mandalorian looked up, huffed, and went back to his breakfast disinterestedly.

Mission thankfully entered the mess then, and the girl shot off and hid behind the Twi'lek. She yawned and searched for breakfast, chattering with the girl in her strange, jumbled language. Zaalbar wandered in afterwards, likely waved out of his hold by an overeager Bastila or driven out by whatever lecture Anna was receiving. A slightly raised voice could just be heard echoing out of the hallway, sounding suspiciously like the younger Jedi.

"What'd Anna do this time?" Mission yawned.

"I'm sure it's about her stunt with Calo yesterday," Canderous replied, still munching on his breakfast.

"She didn't mess up that bad, did she?" the Twi'lek asked, eyes wide. "They're not going to arrest her or . . . or put her in Jedi prison or something?"

Carth snorted. Canderous chortled. "I don't think so," Carth replied. "Anyway, I thought the Jedi practiced exile."

Mission's eyes got wider. "But, but they can't exile her! They need her to fight Malak!"

"I'm not sure they  _could_  exile her," Canderous interrupted gruffly. "Though she might run off if Bastila's giving her the dressing down I think she is."

Zaalbar said something, and Mission patted his arm as she sat down. "Z says Bastila looked pretty mad."

Carth shook his head, debating on whether or not he should try and rescue her. His decision was made for him when shouting suddenly erupted — or, at least, one loud swear from Anna coupled with a muffled, continued half-yell that they could barely make out through the steel, something about a mistake, an accident, a holocron and something else.

The cargo hold fell silent, waiting for a further outburst, but none came.

"Think someone's dead?" Canderous asked around his mouthful of breakfast. Carth glared at him.


	24. Chapter 24

Anna sat cross-legged on top of one of the cargo crates, half glaring at Bastila as the other Jedi paced in front of her. "You are in _sufferable_ ," she snapped, gripping her hands behind her. Her knuckles were white.

" _I_ 'm insufferable?" Anna retorted, nails digging into her thighs. " _I'm_  insufferable? You're the one lecturing me for an  _accident_! _You're_  the one who thought this was her big audition for knighthood!"

Juhani watched the argument, hands folded in her lap. She was not planning on getting involved with the argument, unless someone — likely Anna — seemed ready to punch the other's face in. And she'd been privy to their previous row during one of their 'sessions' on the way to Anchorhead, where Anna had pressed Bastila for information about the Council's motives. That one had just barely ended up on the good side of an argument.

Bastila tactfully ignored the end of Anna's last comment. "It is an accident that could have far-reaching repurcus—"

"What do you want from me?!" Anna snapped, throwing her hands in the air. " It was an accident! I made a  _mistake_! You want me to promise that I won't do it again? I won't! If the damn Jedi had kept me for more training and more lectures about do-this and don't-do-that then  _maybe_  this wouldn't have been a problem! Besides!" She motioned at Bastila. "The Jedi that's supposed to be training me is  _refusing_ to be Jedi-like when it comes to her mother! What sort of example are you trying to  _set_  anyway?"

Bastila looked like she'd been struck, her eyes widening almost to an impossible degree.

"And why the hell are you so hard on me? Is this the way the Jedi do it? Scare their trainees of the dark side so much that they're afraid to  _breathe_  improperly or else someone'll jump down their throats for an  _accident?_ "

"I am  _not_ —" Bastila began to protest hotly, then took a deep breath and obviously recited at least part of the Jedi Code to herself. "I am not acting as a non-Jedi where my mother is concerned."

"Oh, bantha  _shit_ ," she replied, then raised her voice in a mocking imitation of Bastila's. "My mother is a selfish woman. I doubt she is even actually ill—"

"Stop it."

"She likely wants to rob me of my last memories of my father," Anna continued, then dropped her voice. "Come on, Bastila. You didn't even stop to find out if she was telling the truth!"

"The situation is  _not_  the same," Bastila snapped. Anna merely huffed in reply, crossing her arms over her chest. "You are a barely-trained Padawan. I have had  _years_  more training at controlling my impulses—"

"And yet I seem to have a stronger drive to care about people. What good is it to be a Jedi if you're a raging bitch to everyone?"

Bastila's frown dipped lower, but Anna seemed to be done. She kept her arms crossed, frown furrowing her brow, waiting for Bastila to answer. Bastila didn't for a long while, obviously contemplating something. Finally she sighed heavily and ducked her head. "All right," she admitted. "Perhaps my behavior has been less than ideal recently. I see your point. I will visit my mother in the cantina and inquire to her reasons for wanting the holocron. Juhani, would you - would you mind accompanying me?"

"I will, Bastila." Juhani bounced off the crate she was sitting on and the duo left. Anna ducked her head, drew a deep breath, and lowered herself off her crate before walking into the main hold. Heads jerked up to look at her, and she cleared her throat.

"Bastila has some business to take care of in Anchorhead," she explained. "I will be monitoring Sith feeds in the comm room. As soon as Bastila's returned, Carth, I want this ship in the air and on its way to Dantooine. I want to keep moving as much as possible."

"Is everything okay?" Mission asked.

"Everything's fine," Anna said assuredly.

"Anything I should check the surveillance feeds for?" Canderous asked around a mouthful of oatmeal. Anna glared at him, made a gesture that she hid from Sasha with her other hand, then stalked into the hallway. Carth pushed back from the table and, ignoring the throaty chuckle from Canderous, followed her.

"You sure you're all right?"

Anna sank down at the computer constantly running Sith channels, and nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. Bastila's going to see her mother about the holocron."

"It sounded ugly."

She sighed. "I lost it a little. But I think I made my point. I just . . ." She halfheartedly pressed a button, and Carth carefully rested his hands on her shoulders and dug into the knotted muscles underneath. A small moan escaped her lips as she leaned back into him. "I need her to get off my back. I'm always doing something wrong. Always. Even when I do something right, it's 'Anna, don't hold your feet when you meditate;' 'Anna, you can't not be centered;' 'Anna, you can't help everyone you come across,' 'Anna, don't you listen to anything I say?' I'm fighting a losing battle. It's like she  _expects_  me to suddenly just turn evil."

"I'm sure she doesn't."

Anna scoffed. "If she didn't, she wouldn't be on me all the time."

"Just cut her some slack. She's just as terrified as you are." She leaned back to look up at him. "Think about it. She's entrusted with making sure you stop Malak, because for some reason — and don't take that wrong — you're the only person who can.

Anna shook her head. "Yeah. I don't know who came up with that idea."

Carth chuckled. "You'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so." She looked up and smiled. "I'm still glad you're here. At least you keep me honest."

"By fighting you every step of the way."

"It's better than Bastila telling me I'm wrong all the time."

He nodded. "I suppose." Carth rubbed her shoulders again, then straightened. "I'll go make sure that we're ready to take off immediately."

"Thanks, Carth." Anna sighed as he left, rubbing her forehead as she sighed and frowned.

She'd do a lot better if it didn't feel like she couldn't do a damn thing right.

#

An hour later the  _Hawk_  pulled out of Anchorhead, Anna still staring at the screen in front of her blankly. That meant that Bastila and Juhani were back, which meant that it'd likely be only a few minutes before Bastila sought her out — likely for yet another lecture discussing her loss of control and lack of suitability for the Jedi. Not that Anna would disagree with her — she still had the same distrust as before and Force forbid  _that_  go away, lest she end up lapping up whatever information they deigned to give her. She wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to handle herself turning into a typical Jedi pawn — or a pawn of any _one_ , actually.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, and she half-glanced though she didn't have to. The incessant tug of that infernal bond let her know.

"I must speak with you, Anna." Anna swung her hand at the other chair.

"Have a seat."

Bastila settled herself down, shoulders squared solidly and hands folded in her lap. "I apologize for my recent behavior," she said quietly. "I've been unfair. You must understand what this is like for me as well. I have no experience training other Padawans. I may not act like it, but I'm glad to have you with us. I've come to depend on you for . . . many things."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "That sounded painful."

"I am  _trying_  to be sincere!" Bastila resquared her shoulders and drew another long breath — Anna figured she was likely reciting the Jedi code in her head again. "It's occurred to me — with Juhani's input — that I've possibly been too critical of you. Too demanding, and expecting a full application to a code that you aren't used to."

" _May_  have been?" Anna crossed her arms stubbornly.

"I know I can be taciturn." Anna could sense the smallest bit of irritation tingling in the corner of her consciousness — that stupid bond, of course. "I know you're tired of my lectures on the dark side and . . . everything else. But I've been hounded by my instructors for years, being told how gifted and important I was and . . . and I know how tired I grew of it. When I was younger I swore I would never become as self-absorbed and stodgy as the Masters. It, ah, does not appeared to have worked that way."

"Don't forget edgy, critical and overly secretive," Anna muttered under her breath. "And holier-than-thou."

"You do not have to agree so wholeheartedly," Bastila retorted, though the statement didn't seem to be accompanied by irritation. "Being controlled kept everyone around me at an arm's length, even those who are most in need of my understanding and compassion. People like you, and those you help." She sighed, glancing down at her hands. "But you deserve to know that I respect and admire you a great deal. I thought, after the . . . incident . . . with Nord and the way I responded that you should know. It was not your fault; you are not yet in full control of your powers and you are under a great deal of duress." Anna opened her mouth to argue, but Bastila held up her hand. "You may not wish to admit it but I can tell."

Anna sighed. "It's something new, being told by a bunch of godsdamned secretive airheads that I'm all important."

"Yes." Discomfort leaked into the edge of her mind, replacing the irritation that had initially slipped through the bond. "And I understand."

"But thank you." Anna tore her gaze away from the screen. "It means a lot to hear you say it."

"Good, I'm glad. It was not as difficult as I expected. Thank you for hearing me out."

Anna gave her a small smile and nodded. "So you gave your mother the holocron?

"Yes. She is very ill. I . . . must admit that I was wrong. I . . . when we finish this mission, I will likely seek her out on Coruscant."

"Good."

"Thank you for urging me towards it. After all my training I would have thought it'd be easier. Apparently I do still have much to learn."

"Mm. I'd suppose we all do." She looked back over. "So, let's try to work together?"

Bastila nodded. "Yes."

#

They landed on Dantooine in the very early morning, and it took several hours of walking around the fields and spaceport of the Enclave to find the Twi'lek Anna had initially encountered after taking care of the Mandalorian raiders. She'd taken Sasha with her, along with a variety of accoutrements Mission had scrounged up for the girl in Anchorhead. Anna had been in the lead with Mission trotting next to her, Carth following. Bastila had needed to meet with the Council, to no one's great surprise, and Juhani had gone to visit friends. The entire time Sasha gripped Anna's hand, knuckles almost white.

It had taken convincing, but the Twi'lek took them to Sasha's family's homestead outside the Enclave once they'd found him. Her parents had been overjoyed to see her — Sasha not so much, and it had taken a lot of convincing from Anna to get the child to let go of her and go back to her parents.

Meanwhile, Bastila was struggling not to pace in front of the Council, hands wrapped in the back of her robe. Her description of the fight with Calo Nord had troubled them, and they had been silent for quite a long time.

"You say that she inflicted a wound on him with the Force?" Vandar finally asked.

"Yes."

"I told you that this was too risky," Vrook reasserted. "There is too much uncertainty."

"This was something we considered," Zhar said calmly. "We sent her out untrained with only a pair of Padawans to help her. It is not surprising that she made a mistake." He looked back at Bastila. "She understands what she did?"

Bastila paused, tongue darting out to wet her lips. "I believe so. She hasn't apologized for it but I believe she understands the risk at which she placed herself."

"Good. That is all we can ask for."

"Then you are heading to Kashyyyk next?" Vandar asked.

"Yes. I believe so. And, I think she intends to head to Korriban afterwards."

"Korriban is dangerous. It should be put off as long as possible," Vrook said.

Bastila sighed. "I have told her this, but —"

"And since when has she been in charge of this mission?" Vrook demanded. "When they return from their mission outside the enclave I expect you to send her to see us." There was a nod from the rest of the Masters.

Bastila could only imagine just what sort of row this would lead to back on the  _Hawk_  and sighed. "I will, Master Vrook."

"We must discuss your progress with the rest of the Council," Vandar said, beginning her dismissal. "Is there anything else to report? Any other memories that you or Anna have shared?"

Bastila paused, her mind spinning. Of course there were — every night Anna had dreams that she didn't remember in the morning, ones that Bastila did. Or, she at least remembered parts of them: a younger Revan receiving her knighthood, fighting with Malak against fully-armored Mandalorians, sneaking into forbidden parts of the Archives in her thirst for knowledge. There was nothing about what she may or may not have found out beyond the Rim, but some memories of her time as a Sith still lingered somewhere inside her half-ruined mind. The memories that Kavar, Vandar and Nemo had worked so hard on, however, were completely gone — barely anything remained of the carefully designed smuggler that Anna Kyjjl was supposed to be. Bastila walked a tightrope between Revan's memories partially returning with no warning and the woman  _never_  remembering what she had been, always thinking of herself as born in the fires of the  _Endar Spire_ , learning her identity and mission from a datapad.

With any luck, the latter was what she would remain.

"Nothing," Bastila said finally, after she'd scraped through her recent memory to think if there had been any other warning signs. She had been preoccupied with her mother on Tatooine and only paid partial attention to her charge, which she would not admit to the Jedi, but nothing apart from her misuse of the Force had set off any warning signs. "Nothing else has occurred. She is still suffering from full amnesia and remembers nothing past the  _Endar Spire_."

"Good."

"If anything does change," Vrook warned ominously. "You must return here immediately. The Council is ready to step in at a moment's notice."

"I understand," Bastila said with a nod.

"And we will wish to speak with you, Anna, and Juhani before you leave for Korriban," Zhar said. "We will have advice for dealing with the energy present on that planet."

"Thank you." With a final bow, Bastila left the chambers to wait for Anna.

"They'll be fine, Vrook." Zhar didn't even need to look at the man to know he was anxious. It was one of the benefits and curses of having worked together for so long.

"Bastila is strong, and I am sure Anna values her input," Vandar added. "You must trust the will of the Force."

Vrook didn't answer, chewing on his index finger.

They waited for approximately ten minutes before Anna strode in, covered in flour and grass. "Apologies, Masters," she said, almost jovially. "Had to return a lost girl to her parents, and they wanted to feed us in return."

"Be silent," Vrook said sharply. Anna raised an eyebrow.

"Uh— Oh." She slumped slightly, dropping her head into her hands. "Right. Look, it wasn't my intention. I never meant, I _reacted_ —"

"It is not  _about_  intention!" Vrook said, nearly a shout. "It—"

"Vrook," Vander interrupted. He fell quiet, stewing. "Anna, you realize that what you did was unacceptable to the Jedi?"

"Yes," Anna replied quietly. "By the way, Bastila gives excellent lectures on these things."

"As she should. You must understand the dangers of the dark side of the Force." Zhar this time. "And understand that by using such powers, you can easily fall to the dark side with Malak and the rest of his ilk."

"Yes, I've realized that," Anna replied. "But if you're looking for an apology, I won't give it. It was an instinctual reaction on my part - I don't even know how I knew to do it. I can only guarantee that it won't happen again."

Vandar nodded when the other three looked at him. "That is acceptable." Vrook looked prepared to argue, but finally nodded. "Now, we must discuss your search for the Star Maps."

She nodded, her eyebrow raising slightly. "Well, we just located the Map on Tatooine, and we're heading to Kashyyyk. We have a Wookiee with us, so that should make locating the Map far easier. Then I figured Korriban, so I hope the Jedi are ready for that assault as per our previous discussion, and then Manaan."

"And we are going to change your agenda," Zhar said.

#

Anna stormed back into the ship, grabbing her bucket of tools off the workbench and slamming them to the floor. Bastila sprinted after her. Carth stared after Anna, watching as she dropped down by the swoop and ripped open a panel.

"Hey!" Canderous barked from the other side.

"Stop. I'm the one who races it," she snapped. "If I need to rip a panel off it I—"

"Anna, I didn't have a  _choice_!" Bastila interrupted. She glared at her.

"You did!" she snapped. "Do you want to know exactly,  _every word_ , that they just said to me?" Bastila opened and closed her mouth. "'Remember, Padawan Anna, that you need to defer to the more experienced padawan on your ship. If a decision must be made the judgment call will be made by Bastila. We do not want you to go to Korriban just yet. The dark side is strong there, and you will be heavily tested. We do not believe you are yet strong enough to resist.'" She raised her voice. "'Oh, but Masters, I'll be fine. We were planning on an assault, the last I remember.'" Then lowered. "'We will see, Anna, however you will need to be present in order to find the Map. It poses an unnecessary risk.'" She slammed a wrench on something. "And I bet I know who told them that I wasn't ready!"

"I said nothing of the sort!" Bastila defended. "I  _supported_  your idea of going to Korriban after Kashyyyk! I  _supported_  your plan! _They_  did not think you're ready! And with the way you're acting, I don't believe you are  _either_!"

"Carth," Anna barked, ignoring her statement. "Get us in the air and take us towards Kashyyyk. Bastila, this discussion is over."

Carth glanced between the two of them, and then nodded and started towards the cockpit. Bastila made a huffing noise and stormed towards the women's dorm. Canderous glanced up at Anna over the bike.

"For the record," he said. She glanced up and met his eyes. "You tell me to do something, and I'll do it. She does, and she gets a blaster round in her pretty little ass."

Anna smirked and went back to her bike. "Thanks, Candy."

"I'll even put up with you calling me that," he muttered. "Just  _don't_  let her take charge."


	25. Chapter 25

The flight from Dantooine to Kashyyyk was only about two and a half days, which passed in the beginnings of a somewhat uneasy truce. Canderous and Carth seemed to have found some common ground on the swoop bike, Canderous working on it out of sheer boredom and something to do and Carth working on it because the likelihood of Anna using it again was high, and after a few shaky runs on Tatooine he hadn't been fond of its performance. After several hours of a stony silence had run its course, the duo struck up a conversation wrought with progressively worse insults that ended up being mostly out of jest at some point in the late afternoon.

Fortunately this slowly developing camaraderie kept Canderous and Juhani away from one another, which while it meant that the three Jedi were often away from the rest of the crew to meditate - once Bastila assured Anna that she had no illusions of suddenly performing a coup or moving away from the three-three-three division of power that she, Carth, and Bastila shared - and do other Jedi-related things, it meant that the number of fights between the Cathar and the Mandalorian were kept to a minimum. Mission found herself, much to her chagrin, alone most of the time, playing solitaire Pazaak with herself while T3 worked on the ship (mostly on the stabilizer, which was now supplying more edible food than previously). Zaalbar had reclaimed his cargo hold, forcing the Jedi back to the storage room in the main hold. HK incessantly patrolled the ship until Anna forced him into a different corner of the garage and struggled to restore parts of his memory, more curious than anything since the droid performed nearly perfectly in the field.

The droid had just been explaining one of his masters - a politician, a couple of people before he'd wound up in the droid shop on Tatooine — and Anna had been closing up the droid's panels as he spoke.

"You know," she started. "You really don't have to call me master all the time. It's a little creepy."

The droid seemed confused. "Query: Don't I? I was under the assumption that most meatbags such as yourself enjoyed such forms of address."

Anna paused and rocked back on her heels, putting away her tools. "And then there's the 'meatbag' thing."

"Retraction: Did I say that out loud?" HK-47 didn't appear to be attempting to reverse any lost ground. "I apologize, master. While you are a meatbag, I suppose I should not call you such."

"Probably not."

"Amendment: Then I will endeavor not to refer to you by your meatbag status in the future, master. Does that suffice?"

"Not particularly." Usually a droid who did that on their own would be terminated. She could only imagine what his creator had been thinking.

"Query: I am confused. 'No' you do not wish to be referred to as meatbag or 'no' it does not suffice?"

"It's a bit of an arrogant term, don't you think?" She closed the top of the toolbox. "Are you doing it deliberately?"

"Answer: Deliberation implies some form of intent, master, when I am only stating a fact. Perhaps you would prefer the term liquidious fleshbag?"

Canderous chuckled in the corner. Anna glared at him. "Not particularly. You know, 'human' works. Or 'organic.' Someone might take offense." She didn't particularly care but it  _might_  not be best for a Jedi to be running around with a droid that insulted anything it saw.

"Objection: But that technical term does not accurately portray the vast amount of bulbous slushiness present in your bipedal form!" He protested.

"Fine. All right. Just . . . don't use that in negotiations or anything."

He whirred, sounding displeasured.

"Anna?" Anna looked up as she got back to her feet. Mission was in one of the doors, a hand braced against the doorway. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Anna finished closing HK's panel. "All right. Do a sweep of the ship if you want. No killing any gizka."

"Dejected statement: Master, I—"

"No arguments." Canderous snickered again. Anna glared at him as HK started off, and pulled Mission back into the hallway.

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"I'm worried about Big Z," Mission replied, looking down at her hands. "I haven't seen him since we left Dantooine. He's been in the cargo hold the entire time. Do you think we can talk to him?"

"What're you worried about? He's your best friend."

"But he'll  _listen_  to you."

Anna nodded. "All right."

The duo made their way to the cargo hold, the door closed and surprisingly locked. "Hey, Z?" Anna called, rapping on the door sharply. "Z, you good with us coming in?"

There was a muffled snarl on the other side of the door that would have not needed translating even to someone who didn't understand Shiiwook. Anna sighed. "Z, you know I'm coming in anyway."

There was another muffled grumble. "Go ahead and get the door open, Mish." Mission nodded and made her way through the door. When it slid open and Anna stepped through, the Wookiee halfheartedly groaned and waved them over to where he was cross-legged next to his cot, bowcaster in pieces around him. Mission scurried over and carefully hugged him, and when she wasn't batted for her troubles she sank to the floor next to him.

"You okay Big Z?" she inquired, rubbing his shoulder.

" _Fine_ ," he grumbled.

"You don't look fine." Anna settled herself across from the duo on the floor. "Zaalbar, I wanted to talk to you about Kashyyyk."

" _There is nothing to discuss,_ " he grumbled.

"So . . . this recent retreat has nothing to do with us preparing to land on your homeworld?" Anna crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly when the Wookiee seemed unwilling to answer. "Zaalbar . . ."

" _I left my homeworld under less than ideal circumstances_ ," Zaalbar replied hesitantly. " _I will not be welcome_."

"I'll need you as a guide. We can deal with whatever happens afterwards."

" _They will_ not  _respect your office as others do. The Jedi do not carry weight with my people — they are merely another outside force._ "

"I'm not expecting them to." Anna continued. "I'm expecting them to treat us with suspicion. That's not the problem though. I need you as a guide. If you're a criminal or something I need to know now."

Zaalbar made an angry growl, and Anna and Mission both winced. " _I am_ not _a criminal! I . . . I stood up to my brother, and I was no longer welcome. If you wish to use me to receive a better welcome—_ "

"I'm not using you for anything, Zaalbar. You're here of your own volition and you know it. And if you won't be comfortable on Kashyyyk then you don't have to accompany us. However, if you can I would appreciate it. Just because I know the language doesn't mean I know the people."

" _I . . . I know. I will accompany you, but . . . I cannot guarantee I'll be much help._ "

"I'd appreciate it if you filled me in, Zaalbar."

The Wookiee sighed, and looked away from both of them. Anna leaned forward and rested a hand on his arm. "Zaalbar, if you're worried about either of us thinking less of you, that isn't possible," she said quietly. "I have nothing but the utmost respect for all your species, and you are an exemplary member of it. There is very little that you could say that would lessen my opinion of you."

Zaalbar released a heavy, body-moving sigh.

"What can I expect? Will your people take a lot of offense at your presence?"

" _I don't know. It has been a long time since I was on Kashyyyk, and things will likely have changed._ " Zaalbar looked like he was considering his next words extremely carefully. " _My father was very powerful. A chieftain, you would say. His feelings may have mellowed, but if my brother has had his ear all this time . . . I may be very unwelcome. I do not know._ "

"We'll deal with that if it comes," Anna said comfortingly. Zaalbar shifted uncomfortably.

" _That is what I am dreading. I was shamed. It was meant to be forgotten on some far away world — I never thought I'd come back._ "

"But you are, and I need your help Zaalbar."

" _I . . . please respect this, Anna. I will tell you if I am required to but I would rather find out that my shame will not block us. Perhaps they will understand that my duty to you surpasses it. But I . . . There are some things I still wish to be private._ "

Anna sighed, and climbed to her feet. "All right. But just . . . don't hide in here, Zaalbar. We'll still need you tonight for planning."

" _I will be there, and I will provide input. I swear it._ "

"Thank you." Anna nodded and left, sighing as she closed the cargo hold door. With Mission finally reconnected with Zaalbar, she wandered back to the garage. Finding Carth absent, she nodded at Canderous and made her way to the cockpit. "Heya, flyboy."

Carth looked up, feet propped on the console. "Hey. Is Zaalbar okay?"

"He should be fine." She sank into the copilot's seat. "He's worried about landing on Kashyyyk. Apparently he's blacklisted in the Wookiee community."

"Think we'll be fine?"

Anna shrugged. "I hope so." They were quiet for a while, Anna running through the ship's controls in her head. "So, Carth . . . what happened between you and Karath?"

"He betrayed us all," Carth replied simply. Anna tucked her knees to her chest.

"What happened with  _you_  and Karath?"

"Well . . ." He sighed. "I'm sure you don't want to hear about it."

"I asked, didn't I?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Anna shrugged. "I'm wondering. There's something back there in your past that's affected you, and I'm curious."

"It's just . . . I don't talk about it very much, okay?"

"I've noticed."

"I told you about Telos." Anna nodded. "Four years ago, Saul led the Sith fleet and demanded its surrender. The planet refused and they devastated it. Millions died." He reached over to press a button, and Anna noticed his hand was shaking. "I had . . . I had a family, on Telos. A wife and a son. I thought they'd be safe there. But our task force arrived too late to be of much help. We didn't have enough medical supplies. The colony was burning and people were dying and . . . I remember holding my wife and screaming for the medics but . . ."

Anna reached out and brushed the back of his hand. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. How could you? I . . . I had nothing left after that, really. I devoted myself to the fleet, to hunting Saul. I know killing Saul won't bring them back, and it won't make me happy again . . . but I have to do it."

Anna nodded, silent for a few minutes. "What was she like?" she asked quietly.

"She had courage . . . and she was stubborn. Heh, a bit like you I suppose, in that regard. I could never talk her out of anything once she put her mind to she hated it when I signed back onto the fleet at the start of the war. I'd planned on leaving soon, to join her . . ."

"What about your son?"

He nodded, eyes far away as he stared out of the window. "Dustil. Dustil was his name. I don't know. The colony was a complete ruin, and we never found any trace of him. I made inquiries and followed the reports but . . . then I just stopped. There was no point. If he hadn't been found after four years I . . . but that's the story."

"Carth." He looked over at her. "Thanks. For telling me."

"I think it's good for us to have a better understanding of one another." He gave her a weak smile. "I've never really talked about it before. I suppose it's time I did."

"Mm." Anna looked back out the window, a frown ghosting across her face.

"What's wrong?" He echoed her frown, studying her carefully.

"Nothing." She looked back over at him and returned the weak smile. "I was just thinking. I . . . what if I had something? A family, or . . . what if there's people out there who're wondering where I am? I . . . I guess I'll never know."

"Zelka said your memory  _could_  come back."

"Could, but . . ." She sighed heavily, tucking her arms back around herself. "What if it doesn't?"

"I . . . I don't know." Carth glanced back over at her, not entirely sure what to say. "But you have people now. You have the Jedi — for what they're worth — and you have us now."

Anna smiled at him. "Thanks, Carth. I suppose I do . . . though that's likely better than the Jedi. I doubt they'll be worth much in a pinch." Carth laughed.

"No, I suspect not."

"So . . ." She turned her eyes back to the window, looking out at the stars shooting by in hyperspace. "What's it like? Having a family?"

Carth joined her gaze out the window and cleared his throat.

#

That morning, Anna didn't even need to wait for Bastila to join her in the main hold.

The dream hit at the normal time — or vision, rather, Anna suspected it was time to get her terminology right — just before the start of the day cycle, in what would be known as dawn on settled planets. This time as the map unfolded she could feel the forest litter under her boots, the musty smell of dust and moist, decaying plant matter heavy in her nose. It hung underneath the mask she wore — as always she was seeing it from Revan's perspective — and captured in the folds of the robes, likely requiring a heavy wash to get the scent out. She could feel Malak's presence next to her, a prickling feeling just over her right shoulder that rested as heavy as the moldy scent of Kashyyyk.

"Two more left," he breathed.

Anna jolted up and found herself pressed against the very edge of her cot, one arm slung over the side so that the movement sent her crashing to the floor. She laid there for a minute as the others jolted awake as well, Bastila's heavy breaths indicating that she'd just woken up from the same dream, as usual. In half a second, the aforementioned Jedi was leaning over her.

"Did you see it?" Bastila's hair was still wildly mussed from sleep, and Anna couldn't resist a small snicker.

"Are you all right?" Mission asked, the statement split by a huge yawn.

"Fine," Anna grumbled, picking herself up and tossing her covers back on her cot. She stretched and yawned, then dug into her footlocker. "Yes, I saw it."

"I doubt that the Wookiees placed it there —"

"It was on the forest floor," Anna interrupted tiredly, tying her robe. Bastila hurried to get dressed.

"This is important. Now that everyone is awake we should —"

"We'll talk over breakfast," Anna said firmly. "No sooner." Anna left the others getting dressed and stumbled into the main hold, passing HK-47 on one of his routine patrols.

"Query: Master, you look ill. Are you —"

"I'm fine, HK." She poured herself some caffa and dropped down at the table with a moan, rubbing her forehead. "Would you go and check the Sith feeds and see if anything new has been flagged overnight?"

"Statement: Yes, master. Right away, master. This is a good function for an  _assassin droid_ , master."

Anna waved him off and sipped her caffa, letting her eyes close to slits. The forest floor. They were old enough, the maps, to possibly outdate the enormous trees that coated Kashyyyk . . . and it was far from impossible to have placed it even if they weren't.

But it wasn't like that cleared it up or anything. Kashyyyk was enormous — the likelihood of finding the Star Map on a full planet was highly unlikely. It had been luck — or Bastila and Juhani would say the Force — that it had been such a fairly short hike from Anchorhead. The likelihood of this map being as close was exponentially low.

They would need to find someone — likely another Wookiee — highly familiar with the forest floor. She didn't think the Wookiees would have any interest or knowledge in the Star Maps, so what was she even going to ask about?  _Hi, I'm here on urgent Jedi business, I need you to tell me if you've found any weird three-armed black thinggys down on the forest floor._  She didn't suspect that would go over very well with the locals.

Carth was the first to make his way in, pulling something to eat out of the synthesizer and sitting down next to her. "Not eating?"

Anna shook her head. "Not hungry."

He nodded as Canderous strolled in, humming what she thought may have been a Mandalorian battle song under his breath. Anna scowled, holding her mug closer. Of all people on the ship, the  _Mandalorian_ had to like mornings.

Everyone else trickled in slowly. Bastila bounded in, never as exhausted as Anna was after one of the dreams, promptly settling in her spot and doing her best to collect everyone else. As the crew settled in their spots, Bastila cleared her throat.

"We've seen the Star Map again," she started. "This one appeared to be on the forest floor." Anna grunted in agreement when they glanced over at her for confirmation.

"Statement. Master, there is nothing new on the datafeeds." HK's heavy footfalls announced his reappearance, and Anna waved her hand tiredly.

"Thanks, HK." She took another drink and looked up at Zaalbar. "What can you tell us about the forest floor?"

He seemed taken aback by being asked, but nodded. " _The Shadowlands are extremely dangerous. They are hallowed by my people and used as testing grounds._ " Mission translated for him.

Carth sighed. "We always go to the  _best_  places."

Anna grinned.

"And apparently," she continued, tracing the rim of her mug with a finger. "Czerka has some questionable activities on the planet. Zaalbar says we likely won't be welcome.  _So_ , Bastila, Juhani, if the rumors of Sith involvement with Czerka Corp are true, then we can't rely on our authority here. I'm thinking that I'll take Zaalbar, Mission, and Carth into the Czerka outpost when we land." HK started to interrupt. "Yes,  _yes_ , you can come. We'll find out what we can from the Czerka office and come back to figure out the rest of the plan. Zaalbar, do you have any ideas about where the Map might be?"

He shook his head. " _No. But the Shadowlands is a large place. Before I left, there were rumors of such a thing, but very few had stumbled across it. I couldn't begin to tell you where it was_."

Anna sighed. Of course they wouldn't get that lucky twice. "All right. How long before we land?"

"Mm . . ." Carth glanced back at the cockpit. "Four hours."

"Great." She rubbed the side of her face, then stood. "I'll be in the garage."

The scent of decaying plant matter still hung too heavily in her nostrils.

#

The stench of decay had lessened by the time they landed; Mission bounded out the ramp first, interested in seeing the homeworld of her best friend, with Anna, Carth, and HK close behind. The droid's weapon was the only one out, rifle cradled in his arm as usual, though Carth and Anna's hands sat protectively on their own weaponry. Zaalbar was the last off the ship, movements nervous and agitated.

At first, no one really approached them until an Ithorian, looking out of place in his bright Czerka uniform, walked up with a datapad in hand.

" _Greetings to you and, while I am pleased to welcome you to planet G5-623, I do not see your ship on my docking schedule_."

Zaalbar made a quiet rumbling, disgruntled sounding noise.

" _The Czerka Corporation will see to your needs, of course, but there will be a 100 credit docking fee. In advance, I fear._ "

Anna's lip twitched irritably. She didn't know if it was the Force or not, but something on this planet felt . . .  _wrong_. Like something unnatural had altered the life-force of the entire world. She pursed her lips, hoping to stop the twitch. "I was under the impression that the proper name of this planet was Kashyyyk."

The Ithorian's eyes flickered to Zaalbar, still standing shadowed by the ship. " _That is what the . . . dominant indigenous species calls this world, but maintaining this outpost grants Czerka Corporation naming rights in the trade guides_." It was not a question he seemed used to answering. " _But I'm sorry. I really must insist that docking fees be paid before I impart any further services. I must follow proper procedure._ "

"Sure would have been nice if the Jedi'd given you a pass or something," Carth murmured, breath hot against her ear. "These docking fees are hitting us hard."

" _Upon collection of the correct fees I will extend what resources the Czerka corporation can offer. I'm sure you understand_."

"I do," Anna said sweetly. "But I don't need to pay the docking fee." The ease with which she drew up the Force to color her words disturbed her for a second, but the effect of it was almost instantaneous. The Ithorian's eyes glassed for a second before he blinked.

" _Perhaps you don't need to pay the fee_ ," he said thoughtfully. " _Any services you need will more than make up for it, I'm sure._ "

"As am I."

"Nice," Carth hissed.

" _I see you have a Wookiee with you. Can I assume you understand their language? For a fee, Czer—_ "

"I'll be fine," Anna interrupted. Anything Czerka "could do" would be "for a fee."

" _Very well. Now, then, please follow me to our information center. I will answer any further questions there._ " Anna gave a curt nod, and the Ithorian set off at his slow, loping pace down the walkway.

Anna made sure to keep up with him, and only paused once to trade pleasantries with the hunter that had helped them on Tatooine and a merchant along the way. Mission was busy looking around, wide-eyed, taking in everything she could. Zaalbar marched along with his head down, fringe of hair nearly hiding his eyes. HK was on full alert, and Carth focused instead on the people on the pathway. Nearly all wore Czerka colors — if the Sith were fronting Czerka, or Czerka was involved with the Sith in some way and they needed to get out quickly, then it would be a tough fight through the outpost.

The Ithorian led them into an uncomfortable looking office, lowering his bulk into a chair on the other side of a low, silvery desk. " _Now_ ," he continued. " _How can Czerka Corporation serve you during your visit to Edean?_ " Not even an offer to sit, or question about their business on the planet. Anna took one of the chairs in front of the desk anyway, HK moving to stand behind her like any other droid bodyguard. She nodded Carth to the other one, as Mission poked around the room just outside the wide door to the office.

"Tell me about this planet," Anna began. "You called it G5-6233 before."

" _That is the numerical designation. As I said, the galactic Basic name is Edean as decided by stockholders. As you are accompanied by a native of this world, however, I assume you know of it already."_

A brief flicker of irritation flashed across her face but, contrary to some other confrontations they'd had before, she kept it from showing too much.

" _I've been away for a long time_ ," Zaalbar murmured from the archway.

" _You let it speak for you?_ " The Ithorian sound surprised.

"I don't see why he shouldn't," Anna retorted. "Seeing as how he has a mind."

" _You allow it more liberties than most of our customers._ "

Anna's hands fisted in the front of her robe. "Ah," she said quietly. "I believe I understand."

Carth glanced at her. She cleared her throat and motioned around the room, and he saw it as well. Bindings, weapons . . . this was a slaving operation, as clearly as those Gamorreans in the sewers on Taris.

Of course it was. Zaalbar growled behind her, the tone definitely threatening and harsh.

" _Your current Wookiee seems displeased with the situation, but I fail to see a concern. You appear to be a satisfied customer._ "

"I am not one of your 'customers,'" she said, nearly spitting the word out. "Zaalbar is a friend. He travels with me because of a life-debt."

" _Ah, a difficult thing to arrange. I commend you for it. So much easier than restraining collars._ "

The roar - and the threat implied by it - that Zaalbar made was terrifying, and for the briefest second the Ithorian looked terrified.

" _I must warn you that you will be blamed for the actions of your Wookiee. Please, call it off._ "

"Him," Anna corrected, though she stood and took a step towards the angry Wookiee. "And I should let him rip through the lot of you."

Carth blinked. HK's joints whirled.

"Query: Truly, master? It would—"

"Zaalbar . . ." Mission pleaded, a hint of warning in her tone. Anna glanced over the Twi'lek's shoulder, spotting several guards clustering into the doorway with weapons ready.

" _I am merely a servant of the corporation! The Wookiee leadership is in agreement! Harvesting is made as delicately as possible! Please it isn't my decision! It's an acceptable practice, I assure you._ "

Anna glared over her shoulder, one hand on a lightsaber and the other gripping into Zaalbar's fur. "Z, I need you to listen to me." She looked back to the worker. "Tell me about the operation."

" _We supply arms in exchange for a supply of healthy Wookiees._ " Anna's hand tensed on Zaalbar's arm when she felt the muscles bunch underneath his fur. If he got particularly flustered it'd be almost impossible to restrain him, but she could possibly stun him long enough with the Force to get him back to the ship — though that would show her hand. " _We are kept profitable and an agreeable leader is kept in power. It keeps the process from becoming a constant firefight_."

"Yes, possibly because you've never considered what a sapient  _creature_  would like, hm?" She retorted harshly. "This leader's name?"

" _I believe his name is Chuundar. I don't deal with them directly, thank goodness, far too brutish._ "

" _That was not a name I wanted to hear,_ " Zaalbar said quietly, and to her surprise she felt him relaxing even further. Anna kept her grip on his heavy forearm.

" _It sounds as if your thrall has an opinion about our arrangement, but it doesn't matter. Chuundar is unquestioned._ "

Anna huffed back in her throat and turned back to Zaalbar, her voice lowering. "Zaalbar, I need you to stay calm."

" _They're enslaving my people._ "

"And what good will you do for them if you get yourself killed now?" Zaalbar's tense muscles finally fell lax, and he nodded. "Now stay  _calm_. We'll discuss this on the ship. For now, I need to get as much information out of him as possible."

Zaalbar nodded again, and Anna returned to her seat.

"What other services can you provide?" she asked, as if the previous confrontation had never happened.

About five minutes later, she was waltzing out of Czerka's headquarters, past the guards still standing around the entrance with hardly a second glance. "Best keep your beast on a better lead," one of them snarled, patting his gun suggestively. "Else we might be putting you on one, sweetheart."

Anna drew to a dead halt, Carth nearly running into her. She turned on her heel, pushing past the man's gun and coming within inches of his face.

"I suggest," she said sweetly, murder flashing across her eyes. "That you take your slave-trading, scum-filled slime back to wherever it came from, or you'll be shooting that gun from your mouth."

"Is that a threat, sweetheart?"

"Consider it a promise," she murmured into his ear before wrenching the gun out of his hands, taking in apart in a matter of seconds, and letting the pieces rain to the ground. "Have fun explaining that to your supervisor, shabu Hutt-spawn." She turned back on her heel and stalked towards the  _Hawk_ , only stopping briefly to shake out of Carth's hand when he tried to grip her arm.

"What the  _hell_  are you doing?" He hissed, getting a firmer grip on her robe and pulling her in so the Czerka workers staring at them couldn't hear what he was saying. "I thought you  _weren't_  trying to attract attention."

"They'll find us out soon enough," she snapped back. "It doesn't matter anyway. We have to go to the Shadowlands and the only individuals who'll allow us to do so are the Wookiees."

"You didn't have to get every Czerka soldier on high alert."

"They're slavers." She jerked back out of his hand and started towards the ship at full speed, heavy over-robe sweeping behind her with her pace. "It's not like it matters."

 


	26. Chapter 26

With a strategy decided, it was the three Jedi, Zaalbar, Mission, and HK who left the  _Hawk_  for the nearby settlement of Rwookrrorro.

The outpost seemed to have died down from the previous near confrontation. Carth closed the ramp to the  _Hawk_ behind them, safely closing himself, Canderous, and T3 off in case anything went bad during their investigation. If things went well, they would come back to the ship after making their way to the Wookiee village and prepare to go into the Shadowlands the next day. Even though it was only early afternoon, Kashyyyk was in a perpetual twilight due to the enormous trees covering its surface.

The guards attempted to stop them at the entrance to the Great Walkway but were convinced out of it with barely any effort. As they stepped through the heavy wooden doors and onto the expansive walk suspended high in the trees, Zaalbar raised his head and breathed deeply.

" _Can you sense it?_ " He asked. " _The wind, the sound, the smells? I feel it now that we're away from the spaceport._ " Zaalbar took another deep breath, a breeze rustling across his hair. " _This walkway is new — likely built by the slavers . . . But I remember the trees. My village is not far from here_."

Mission looped her arm around his forearm.

"Is there anything we can do?" Anna asked.

" _I-I don't know. It's been so long since I . . . I only know the way things were, and many things may have changed._ "

"Will we have any luck with your people?" Juhani seemed stunned by the size of the trees around her, but slowly recovering from her shock.

" _I . . . I don't know_.  _I must warn you — I don't know if I will be a help or hindrance here. My father was very powerful . . . A chieftain. His feelings may have mellowed but if my brother had his ear all this time . . . I may be_ very _unwelcome as well_."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Anna said calmly. "As for now . . . If you think of anything else we need to know, tell me."

Zaalbar nodded, and Anna continued down the path.

Though infested by local flora and one particularly nasty knot of slavers that were nearly ripped apart by Zaalbar until Anna calmly convinced them to leave, the Great Walkway was a beautiful piece of work. It wound through the trees as if it had been grown rather than placed there, splitting into different paths as naturally as the branches that both supported it and arched over it.

Zaalbar directed them towards his village, though it seemed more as if he were  _smelling_  the way rather than seeing the signs marking the paths. He claimed they were drawing close when Anna threw an arm out suddenly, catching Bastila right in her chest and nearly knocking the wind out of her.

"Something's not right," she murmured quietly. HK whirred to life behind her. "HK, scan."

His eyes flickered for a second, then he nodded. "Observation: Master, there are three individuals ahead, of the Sith variety. They appear to have set a poorly devised ambush up. Query: Shall we kill them?"

"Weapons out," she hissed, snapping her lightsaber into her hand. There were clicks as weapons were snapped off belts. "Juhani, Bastila, we'll take close range. If any of you get a shot, take it."

"Right," Mission murmured, fingering the safety of her blaster. Zaalbar nodded.

"Statement: My circuits are abuzz with anticipation, master."

They rounded the corner, and Anna slunk forward a couple steps. "Know you're there," she called, her voice almost sing-song. "Might as well come out now." The three dark-robed Sith flickered into existence, lightsabers already ready. One started to speak. "Let me guess, Malak sent you to kill us."

"Ye—"

"Good." Anna flicked on her lightsaber and charged at the first enemy. He had only a second to bring his up in a block. Juhani cleared the several feet between her and her target in one leap, crashing her lightsaber down on her opponent's. She fumbled with her lightsaber after the force of the leap, and the Cathar ripped her double-blade back through the woman's body, severing her cleanly in half. Bastila managed to disarm her opponent as well, though she drove her lightsaber through his stomach rather than slicing him in half. Anna dodged another blow from her opponent's saber, spun, ducked under the blade, and rolled behind him. HK drilled the Sith with enough rounds to bring his energy shield down, and Zaalbar fired a single bolt that slammed through the man's head.

"Well," Anna said, climbing back to her feet. "That was fun. Good job you two."

HK made a satisfied whirring noise, checking the energy cell in his gun. Zaalbar nodded.

"Check them for anything useful," Anna said, rummaging through one Sith's pockets.

Bastila searched the leader's, finding another datapad with the same description. She glanced up, noticed that no one had seen her, and quickly tucked it away and stood. "How much further is your village, Zaalbar?" she asked.

" _Not much further_ ," he replied, as weapons were clipped back onto belts. " _It is . . . not much further at all._ "

As they rounded the next bend an imposing wall of wood suddenly rose up and blocked their path, a lone Wookiee guard standing armed outside. He growled with absolute ferocity as they approached, enough that Anna stopped well out of range of both his arms and vibrosword.

" _Stop where you are!_ " he growled. " _You enter the domain of Chuundar, Chieftan and leader!_ "

Zaalbar replied with an answering roar. " _These outsiders are with me, and I want access to the home of my people!_ " he demanded.

"What's going on?" Bastila hissed, as the group clumped together to the side of the two Wookiees.

"Nothing good, I don't think," Anna replied.

"He's just asking to get in," Mission said. "It can't be that bad."

" _YOU have no rights here! This human should not have brought this taint upon our land!_ " The guard's eyes turned back to Anna, currently having worked her way between the other three and the two Wookiees. " _You must answer to Chuundar!_ "

"What taint, Zaalbar?" Anna asked quietly.

" _Me,_ " he answered simply. " _I'm the taint that you've brought._ "

"Hey!" Mission protested. "Zaalbar isn't a  _taint_! He—"

"Sh." Anna held up her hand.

" _Silence!_ " The guard growled, weapon brandished. " _You are nameless with dishonor! Yours is a foulness that disgusts me! Enough talk!_ " He gestured at the entire group with his blade. " _You and the outcast madclaw will be taken to Chuundar!_ "

"We're getting taken to the chief," Anna explained quietly. "Not in a good way, but we may still be able to make this work." Several other Wookiees came out, summoned by the guard's roars, and chattered in a way that not-so-calmly suggested they come with them.

"I suggest we do as they say?" Bastila said as one nudged her with a large paw, then growled something.

"They want our weapons," Anna translated. This was rapidly escalating into not-good territory, and she didn't like it. "I . . ." She frowned and swung off her bag. "Put them in here." They didn't want to play their hand yet. The longer they kept their identities mostly a secret, the better it would be if they needed to make a quick getaway. Hesitantly, Bastila and Juhani dropped their lightsabers in, and Mission deposited her blaster and handed over her vibroblade. Zaalbar had already handed over his bowcaster, though he'd looked fairly unhappy at doing so. Anna handed the bag to one of their captors, careful to check for her holdout's presence. Just in case. He dropped Zaalbar's bowcaster into the bag, the stock sticking out of the flap.

They were marched through the village surrounded by their guards, other Wookiees hovering along the edges of the walkways and staring as they passed, some with outright disgust and others with slight curiosity.

"They're all so . . . scared," Bastila said quietly, obviously attempting to sort out the best word to use.

"If your people were reduced to slavery," Juhani murmured. "How would you feel?"

Bastila glanced at her, then away again. "You are right, Juhani, of course."

The chieftain's hut was on the other side of the village, and they were ushered through the heavy wooden doors. At the far end stood yet another Wookiee, flanked by several Czerka guards and a few more Wookiees — enough to make Anna rethink their chances should they need to fight their way out.

The Wookiee with her bag hung back by the main door as they were pushed forward. The dark-furred Wookie examined them as their guards stepped aside. In the break, Anna straightened her tunic and stepped forward.

"Chuundar, I presume," she began.

" _Speak quickly, outsider. I don't often allow your kind here_."

Anna cleared her throat, looking pointedly at the Czerka officers standing behind him. Zaalbar beat her to it. " _You are flanked by Czerka slavers! Aren't they outsiders? Or have you sold all of Kashyyyk to them?!_ " He took a step forward, a Wookiee almost immediately slamming his paw into Zaalbar's chest to stop him.

" _Ah, brother Zaalbar_ ," Chuundar said, tone almost growing condescending. " _You've been exiled a long time. You shouldn't speak in that tone. Things are different now._ "

Anna crossed her arms. "Apparently."

Mission carefully tucked her arm into Zaalbar's, quietly translating for Bastila and Juhani though her voice shook as she did.

" _You are a mad-claw without honor. You have no voice among your own people. I, on the other hand, am Chieftain_."

"I'm sure someone will care when they find out you're allied with . . . slavers," Anna interjected. Chuundar turned his dark eyes back to her.

" _You may talk, but no one will believe you. I've had a long time to guide what my people think. And no one concerns themselves with the problems of the Wookiees._ " As angry as it made her, he was right. Not even the Jedi would interfere here. " _Trust me, the mighty Chuundar. Even with my brother insane and father enslaved, I rose to protect my people._ "

" _What do you mean, father is enslaved?_ " Mission's arm tightened around Zaalbar's arm as he spoke again, voice breaking. " _And 'mighty Chuundar?' You were always the runt!_ "

Chundaar roared something almost unintelligible at Zaalbar, then took a deep breath. " _As I said, much has changed. We will discuss this soon enough. As for your friends . . ._ "

Anna drew herself up to her full height, though she was still almost a full four feet shorter than the Wookiee ahead of her. "We—"

" _Silence_!" Chuundar barked. Anna straightened further, her heart pounding in her chest. He could kill her before she could react, if he wanted. " _I haven't killed Zaalbar outright because he is my brother, and I hoped he and I could come to an agreement. You are irrelevant._ "

"I suppose that's a good thing," Anna muttered.

"Anna," Bastila hissed. "The —" She waved her off.

" _I may be able to put you to use on a menial task. Zaalbar will have to stay here, of course._ "

"No deal," Anna said immediately. "Zaalbar is my fr—is sworn to me."

" _You can leave if you wish, but he will stay here._ "

"Anna," Mission pleaded, clinging to Zaalbar's arm. "You can't let them."

"I need a guide," Anna replied, hiding the desperation in her voice.

" _That will not be necessary. Besides . . . you have little choice in the matter._ "

Anna glanced around. No, they were outnumbered nearly two to one. In a fight against Sith grunts it'd be one thing, but armed with only the Force against furious Wookiees . . . no. The risk was far too great, even if the Shadowlands were unknown. They'd be facing those threats fully armed, after all.

She turned back to Zaalbar, gently extricating Mission's arm from him. "I need you to do whatever is necessary," she murmured quietly. "We won't be long."

" _Take care of her_?" he mumbled.

"Always." She patted his arm and turned back to Chuundar. "I expect our weapons will be returned."

He nodded. " _After you and your companions are taken to the Shadowlands—_ "

"Whoa!" Anna held up her hands. "I need to return to my ship. I —"

" _No_ ," Chuundar growled. " _You will leave now, and not return until you've finished._ "

Anna jerked away when one of their escort reached for her, nearly stumbling back into Bastila. "Come on," she barked in the other three's general direction and, with a sweep of her over-robe, stalked back towards the door behind one of their escort. A thumb flicked on her communicator.

"T3," she murmured, keeping her voice low as she spoke. A quick glance demonstrated that no one seemed to have heard her. An answering beep came through. "We've had a complication. I need you to tell Carth and Canderous to meet at the Shadowlands lift." He chirped again, and she cast another glance around. Still, none of the Wookiees seemed to have noticed.

She slowed the slightest bit to fall back next to Juhani, the Cathar obviously agitated. "I  _hope_  you have a plan," she hissed.

"Yeah," Anna murmured. "Carth and Canderous should be coming to meet us, but I need you and Mission to head back to the ship."

"I-"

"You two are the only ones who can get out unnoticed," she continued. "Mission is . . . sort of compromised, and I need a Jedi on that ship. T3 can take the ship into orbit if he has to. Don't drop stealth or whatever  _until_  you're at the ship."

Juhani frowned, slit eyes flickering. "You are sure that you will be fine with only yourself, Bastila, and the droid?"

"And Canderous and Carth," she reminded. Juhani drew a deep breath.

"Yes, and them."

"We'll be fine, Juhani, but you're our backup. If the worst should . . . well, if something were to happen, it's up to you to alert the Jedi."

"Understood," she replied. "Anna . . . be careful."

"You too." Anna fell back next to Mission, glancing at Bastila as she did. The other Jedi nodded, and stepped forward next to Juhani entirely. Mission's eyes were unfocused as she stumbled along the path, eyes slightly misty. "Mish?"

The Twi'lek snapped out of it, long enough to deal Anna an uncharacteristically harsh glare. "How could you  _leave_  him!?" She demanded. "He swore a life-debt to you, he-he's your  _friend_ , and you left him there! And—"

"Sh." Anna half-jerked Mission to her, one arm around her shoulders. "I need you to listen. There's something  _very_  important I need you to do if you want to help Z."

#

Their opportunity came when a horde of kinrath tore out of the trees around them, tracking the scent of fresh meat. With their guards unwilling to rearm them and thus otherwise distracted by the insectoids, Anna motioned at Juhani and Mission to disappear. Within seconds both were invisible, slipping through the border of their escort with no indication of their passing. With their escort hardly noticing the disappearance, they motioned for Anna and Bastila to keep moving.

"Query," HK hissed as they were marched along the walkway. "Why are we  _not_  blasting these meatbags, master?"

"I want to end this as peacefully as possible," she replied. "Don't worry, there'll be be plenty to kill in the Shadowloads."

His replying whir sounded  _very_  disapproving.

They finally reached the lift, the Wookiee present at it casting a disapproving look over them. " _Chuundar told me to expect five_ ," he growled. Anna opened her mouth just as running feet pounded on the heavy wooden walkway.

"Got separated," Carth panted as he and Canderous, weapons cleverly hidden under cold-weather gear. Canderous nodded assent — they must have sprinted from the ship to be that out of breath.

" _Get onto the lift._ " The Wookiee motioned harshly, glaring at them. " _Stay still. Or you will attract the attention of predators._ "

Anna sighed and glanced at the others, then held out her hand. "Bag?"

The Wookiee holding her back huffily slung it back at her, and Anna opened it and handed Bastila her lightsaber then checked her own, leaving Juhani's and Mission's weapons where they rested. Her hand gently skimmed over the stock of Zaalbar's bowcaster, a small frown crossing her face.

She'd be back for him.

#

They'd been trudging for the better part of four hours, damp from rainwater and Force knew what else and already ambushed once by, of all things, Mandalorians. HK stalked slightly ahead of them, metal head twisting as he searched for any threats amidst the huge trees and tach chatter. The four organics trudged tiredly after him, Bastila's dark brown and Anna's tawny hoods turned up against the cold. Canderous seemed warm in his purloined Mandalorian armor, helmet on and constantly making Anna and Carth jump when they spotted him from the corner of their eyes. Carth, however, could no longer feel his face or ears, despite the hood that was pulled low over his face.

Along with the cold, their boots sank into months or years' worth of decaying plant litter, muffling their steps but smelling like that odorous mixture of decomposition, musk, and general awfulness that had colored Anna's vision of the Shadowlands.

"We'll need to camp shortly," Carth finally said, attempting to rub feeling back into his ears. The sudden sound broke the dogged silence and made even Canderous jump, then resulted in a chorus of murmured agreements.

"This place is disgusting," Canderous added, shooing a tach away with the toe of his armored boot.

"For once I  _must_ agree." Bastila ducked under a low-hanging vine, wrapping her robe more closely to her.

"This is going to take  _forever_." Anna was in a fairly foul mood and had been since being taken to Chuundar earlier that afternoon. Apart from the occasional expletive if she tripped over a root or a monosyllabic reply when asked a question, she'd been absolutely silent. "Hopefully that Wookiee hasn't gone—"

"Observation," HK interrupted, attracting their attention. "My sensors indicate several organic meatbags ahead."

"Get on with it," Anna snapped.

"Appeasement: Most are local fauna of the katarn variety. The other is human."

"Must be the crazy outsider," Carth said. Anna nodded tiredly.

"Observation: He is of the Jedi variety, master."

That snapped up both Bastila's and Anna's attention, the latter instantly alert. "A Jedi?" Bastila echoed.

"Condescending affirmation: Yes, meatbag. That is what I said."

"Well. This just got interesting." Canderous chuckled as Bastila delivered yet another of her infamous glares at him, picking up her own pace and forcing the others to hurry to catch up to her.

They rounded the bend in time to catch the flash of a green lightsaber, flickering as it sliced through an attacking katarn. The rest of the pack already lay dead. Anna stopped Bastila by grabbing her arm as the man behind the flickering blade looked up.

#

Life for Jolee Bindo, former Jedi Padawan and veteran of the war with Exar Kun, was rarely as dull as he would have liked. That day nearby  _had_  been, until a pack of katarn had decided he'd looked particularly tasty.

And that was  _nothing_  compared to  _this_.

The two in front were very obviously Jedi, though he needed neither their attire or weapons to judge that. Strong, too, with a strange  _connection_ between them. But more than that, he  _recognized_  the smaller woman. She'd been taller before and heavily robed and masked, the obvious accoutrements of a Sith. He thought his vision may have been tricking him for a second, but there was no mistaking  _that_  familiar signature in the Force.

What was a former Sith — no, former Sith  _Lord_ — doing with a Jedi?

"Hello?" she called, a winning smile crossing her face.

"Hrm," Jolee replied, deactivating his weapon and clipping it back to his belt. "Guess you're lost? Only lost Czerka patrols —"

"I am  _not_  Czerka." The level of venom in her voice made it ring with sincerity.

"Of course not. Come on. My hole's far more comfortable than this and katarn are drawn to the scent of blood." He shook his head and turned on his heel, not waiting for a reply. "I fought the Sith, and now I live under a log like a rodent, heh," he mumbled as he started for what had long passed as home without even waiting for them to follow.


	27. Chapter 27

"Hole" was an apt term for the tiny, hand-dug hovel located under a precariously-toppled worshyr tree. A small, well-tended garden of local flora thrived just outside the door, and fire-light glowed through windows protected only by strips of bark. The inside was more serviceable than they'd expected based on the exterior. It was cozy, a firepit with a battered iron pot crackling in the middle of the simple one-roomed cabin, the floor either swept perfectly clean or covered with mats or furs. The furniture that  _did_  exist was very makeshift, and only a few pieces rested under the forest of drying herbs hanging from the ceiling.

"Sit," Jolee ordered, motioning in the general area of the firepit. They needed no further encouragement, sinking gratefully into the surprisingly plush furs. "Surprised the Wookiees let you down here. Lots of hubbub going on today from what I hear. Hungry? There's soup in the pot. Best start with introductions. Jolee Bindo. You've probably heard of me. Czerka's various names for me aren't particularly polite though, heh."

"They did mention a crazy old hermit," Canderous said. "Guessing that's you."

"That'd be me," Jolee replied. "Your turn now. That's how it works, unless those customs have changed radically."

"The droid's HK-47." Anna jerked her thumb at the door where the droid stood silently, motionless but for the flicker of his red eyes. "The Mandalorian is Canderous Ordo—" Jolee made a humming noise as he ladled soup into a bowl from the pot. "—Republic Commander Carth Onasi, Bastila Shan, and I'm Anna Kyjjl."

Jolee made that humming noise again. "What are you doing in the Shadowlands? Doubt the Jedi sent you after me."

"Should they?" Bastila asked, one delicate eyebrow arching. Jolee chuckled.

"No reason to. I'm not a Jedi now, am I?"

"So I guess they just let you keep the lightsaber," Carth said dryly. Jolee chuckled.

"As a matter of fact, yes. But  _I_  live here, and  _I_ don't  _have_  to help you."

"Look," Anna said tiredly, a long four hours of tromping through the Shadowlands quickly catching up with her. "It doesn't matter anyway. We're looking for some information. Can you help?"

"Straight and to the point. The Jedi need more of that." He leaned back in his chair. "Don't know what I can tell you, though. Doubt you care which side of the tree gets the most sun down here."

Bastila leaned forward. "We've been sen—"

"What's the political situation in Rwookrrorro?" Anna interrupted, the town's name rolling smoothly off her tongue. Bastila turned back to her.

"Anna, that is  _not_ —"

"Look," Anna said sharply. "Wookiees are nothing if not loyal and  _I_ , for one, am  _not_  comfortable leaving Zaalbar up there for his murglak of a brother to do whatever the hell he wants to him. And you shouldn't either." Bastila ducked her head slightly.

 _Interesting_ , Jolee thought.

"We traveled here with the brother of the current chieftain, who I must say isn't a likeable chap," Anna explained. "So we were sent down here to find and kill another Wookiee while Zaalbar is held captive to ensure our good cooperation—"

"Did Chuundar tell you  _who_  the Wookiee was?"

The group was quiet for a second, then Carth cleared his throat. Bastila had filled them in, with occasional input from Anna, during the early phase of their trek. "I think we've got a few ideas," the pilot said with half a glance at the Mandalorian.

"If we're right," Anna continued. "And I suspect we are, it's important we talk to him. But you've been around here much longer, and I'd be interested to know your opinion."

Jolee shrugged. "Czerka Corporation was smart to put Chuundar in power. He's as good at destroying Wookiee culture as corpses of Ardroxian flu. Maybe it's time for a change, but . . . well, it'll be interesting to see whose side you chose."

"You have no recommendation?" Bastila asked. "Someone—"

"Yeah," Jolee said. "How's this: think for yourself." Bastila blinked. "I'm big on letting people figure things out for themselves. It's a learning experience. Besides, the Wookiees have prophesies of deliverance if you ask them, but they follow without hesitation for now. That's their wish, and they're very slow to change. You . . .  _might_  be able to fix it."

"So you know where this 'crazed' Wookiee is?"

"Maddened with grief maybe. Certainly not crazy." He shook his head. "I helped him get through to the lower forests. Of course I know where he is."

" _Anna_ ," Bastila said pointedly. She sighed.

"Before she has an attack," Anna continued. "We're also looking for an old dark-side artifact.  _Very_  old."

"Knew the Jedi wouldn't send you here for the problems of a few Wookiees." He stirred the stew in his bowl. "I knew what you were looking for. I know where it is too — though I've never been able to make the damn thing work."

"All right," Anna said, sounding a bit surprised that he'd even found it. There shouldn't have been any way they'd gotten lucky twice. "Well, tell us where it is and we'll get out of your hair. Or . . . what's left of it at least."

Canderous snorted.

"Mm . . . no. No, I don't think so."

Anna blinked. Bastila's jaw dropped. " _What_?" she demanded. "Why not?!"

With a  _very_  pointed look at the Padawan Jolee replied, "Because I need to know what I'm working with." The Jedi didn't reply, but fell back into a very stony silence.

Anna sighed. "Let me guess. You've got something that needs doing."

"Sounds like the sent one of the smart ones," he replied. "Czerka sends down  _harvesting_  parties occasionally, that have no respect for the local wildlife. The group down here is one of the worst."

"Aww," Anna said sweetly. "Does the aged not-Jedi need me to get some kids off his garden?"

"Anna!" Bastila chided. Canderous released a short, barking laugh, and Carth grinned.

"Yes, yes, I'm being fussy. But if you want my help you'll do it." He nodded behind him. "Their camp is about a mile that way. The path is hard to miss."

"Why don't you do it yourself, if they bother you so much?" Canderous asked, still chuckling.

"They know who I am, and they won't deal with me. You'll have more luck."

"So are you asking for reasoning or killing." Anna motioned as if both words were floating in the air in front of her.

"I want them gone. The method is yours to choose." He shrugged. "I'm curious to see what you do."

"And if we get rid of these pesky kids you'll help us?"

"Sure. I'll take you out where you need to go." He chuckled. "And there's several barriers in your way, so don't expect to get by them without my help!" He wagged a finger at her, and Anna raised her hands.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, you know what we're looking for and where it is. That's quite a bit more than we know."

"Good." Jolee  _did_  sound a bit pleased at that. "Now stay here tonight. It's obvious you're exhausted and staying out there'll get you killed. Make yourself at home, but not too much." He huffed and stood and, with another pointed glance at Bastila, wandered outside to his garden. Bastila glanced at the others and hurried after him.

Outside, Jolee ignored her as he harvested a native root that had broken into bloom since they'd arrived at his hut. Bastila finally cleared her throat, her voice almost lost to the tachs' chittering and katarn roars in the forest around them.

"Why do you need to 'see what you're working with?'" she hesitantly asked, choosing her words with careful deliberation.

"Don't treat me like a fool, girl," he replied, just as quietly. "I get news from Czerka, and I tracked Revan five years ago when she first came here. I know who your friend is."

Bastila blanched the smallest bit, almost lost to the darkness.

"What are the Jedi playing at?!" he demanded, though his voice never rose and he continued his work. "I doubt she decided to help you out of the goodness of her heart."

Bastila opened her mouth, initially to retort, but her words caught in a difficultly-hidden sob. Before she could stop herself she'd blurted out everything: the fight on Revan's flagship, the plan concocted by Kavar and Vandar, Bastila's responsibilities with her charge, the crash on Taris, Anna's grab for power on the planet, the incident on Tatooine, her own fears at being in control of the former Sith Lord and the bond between them and —

Jolee listened patiently as she trailed off, then was silent for a long while. He finally sighed heavily and shook his head. "Just like them to send a terrified Padawan to do a Master's job," he said, a hint of frustration in his voice. Bastila almost protested that she wasn't afraid, but knew he wouldn't believe her. So she said something else.

"They said a Master would attract—"

"Too much attention. And they're right. Doesn't mean it was the right  _choice_." He shook his head. "Damn Council messing with things they don't understand. Again."

"Master Bin—"

"Stop. I'm not a Jedi. I never got any higher than  _you_  before I left. I'm just Jolee, the crazy old hermit."

She nodded. "Jolee, I . . . how am I supposed to do this? She's too smart and perceptive and —oh!" Bastila paled even further. "What if she  _does_  know, or her memories came back, and she's toying with me? She  _would_  too!"

"She would?" Bastila nodded. "Heh. Knew I liked her. And wouldn't you know through that bond or whatever?"

"Well, I'd . . . I'd suppose so."

"Then why are you so worried? Anna's not evil — I'd know — and she isn't toying with you  _or_  the Council. Force! You'd think they went out of their way to create Sith. No, don't argue with me." Jolee finished his harvesting as a loud peal of laughter came out of one of the bark-covered windows. "I don't think there's anything to worry about."

"You won't say anything, will you?"

He scoffed. "Is it so important for her to find out? I know when to keep my mouth shut, thank you very much."

"Thank you." Despite Bastila's sudden realization that she'd told a random "non-Jedi" everything and the pit that caused in her stomach, it felt like a ton had been lifted off her shoulders. It didn't matter now. Someone knew everything — her fears, her apprehensions, her faint sense of inadequacy. She wasn't alone in her task anymore. "Jolee, I—"

"Don't worry. I want to see how this plays out," Jolee said.

#

Bastila's disappearance was only questioned by Carth; Anna told him that Bastila likely intended to perform one of her infamous lectures for Jolee and he figured she was right. Canderous hadn't voiced an opinion one way or the other, opting instead for helping himself to whatever Jolee's questionable stew was. Anna and Carth settled for standard ration bars, opting for horrifically flavored protein bars with the consistency of mushy treebark over whatever was in that stew.

"It isn't that I think Jolee is trying to kill us," Anna explained when Canderous described the bars using a colorful Mando'a phrase. "It's just that some of that meat  _really_  looks like kinrath."

Canderous poked the questionable meat, shrugged, and popped it into his mouth. "Tastes fine."

Anna wrinkled her nose. "I'd rather eat gizka."

"Can always go back to the ship if you're having a craving."

She snorted. Carth shook his head and began stripping his body armor, inspecting each piece as he did. "You know they're her pets," he teased, setting the chestplate aside.

"It's not their fault," Anna retorted. "They didn't ask to get caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. You going to sleep in that, Canderous?"

He bared his teeth in a wide grin and drained his wooden soup bowl. Anna shook her head, repeating Carth's own scrutiny on her own gear. Fortunately there was nothing amiss that some minor tweaking wouldn't fix.

"Still think the Wookiee's Zaalbar's father?" Carth asked, buffing out a scratch on the silvery plate. Anna nodded, tightening a screw on her lightsaber.

"Don't see why he wouldn't be. Chuundar gets rid of all his problems at once — no doubt he's expecting us to —" The chirp of the communicator at her belt silenced her.

"Didn't expect that to work down here," Carth said.

"Neither did I." She flicked the switch. "Go for Anna."

:: _Anna, this is Juhani._ :: It was staticy, but they could make her out. :: _We are having a problem with Czerka._ ::

"Oh?" Carth said. Canderous shrugged, ladling more stew into his bowl.

"What's wrong?"

Jolee and Bastila wandered in then, Jolee dumping his harvest on the cabin's rough table and producing a ball of twine with the clear intention of hanging them to dry.

:: _They are attempting to claim something in some clause that we didn't sign and seize the ship._ ::

Anna pursed her lips.

"Thirty credits says there's Sith behind that," Canderous observed, leaning back in his chair.

"Neither of us is stupid enough for  _that_ bet," Carth replied.

"Juhani, what happened?"

:: _I let them into the garage to discuss their issue. Once I determined that they wished to claim the ship I threw them off and told them to contact the Jedi._ ::

"Juhani," Bastila warned.

:: _They have their limbs intact._ ::

Jolee chuckled.

Anna pinched the bridge of her nose. "Did you contact Dantooine?"

:: _Yes. They are attempting to contact Czerka._ ::

"Good. The Jedi can explain. Meanwhile I want you, Mission, and T3 to stay on the ship. If it gets too hot, T3 can take her up into orbit."

:: _Will do. How are the Shadowlands?_ ::

"Bit of a craphole, but we've got someone who knows the land. He knows where the Map is."

:: _Good. I'll contact you if anything changes._ ::

"Do it immediately." Anna clipped it back onto her belt.

"'Bit of a craphole,'" Jolee said. "I live here, you know."

"You denying it?"

He shrugged. "It's not so bad."

"Still." Anna munched on her ration bar thoughtfully. "I'll be happy to get out of here." She looked back up. "So you've tried to use the Map?"

"Course I have. Not much to do for entertainment around here, after all. It's got a computer attached to it — kept saying I didn't match behavioral memory or something."

"Well what does that mean?"

Jolee shook his head. "How should I know? Wasn't aware that I was supposed to know everything. Now get some rest and stop badgering me."

Anna frowned, but shrugged. "HK," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the droid. "Keep an eye out."

"Statement: Yes, master."

"We should get some sleep. We'll have a long day ahead of us. Jolee—"

He waved his hand disinterestedly. "I'm not going to hold your hand."

Anna shrugged and with that flounced back onto the skins, wrapped her outer robe around her, and rolled onto her side.

She was exhausted.

#

They returned at what Jolee figured was noon in civilized parts of the galaxy.

He'd been busy powdering and mixing bits of his herbs into appropriate tinctures and poultices, stuffing them into a battered and somewhat torn bag that had been often patched with kinrath and katarn skin. Jolee had just finished when he heard voices approach his hut, Anna's honest laugh suddenly cutting through the forest air. Wiping his hands off on his tunic, he stepped outside his hut and crossed his arms, watching them approach.

Strangely enough, he didn't think they'd killed the patrol.

Interesting.

"Well," he called. "Have you done as I asked?"

"They're gone," Anna confirmed.

"Yes," he replied, arms crossed over his chest. "And I don't sense the smell of death on you."

She shrugged. "There wasn't particularly anything to gain by killing them."

Canderous huffed. He apparently disagreed. The droid — HK-47 — made a disapproving whirring noise.

"I suppose the environment would say otherwise, if it could talk." He shrugged.

"I made my decision, and I'm not looking for your approval." Anna shot HK a withering look, and the droid whirred again. "I did some scouting once the patrol was gone. There's a repulsor field near the Czerka camp — I assume this is one of the barriers you mentioned?"

"Mm, they did send one of the clever ones. Yes, I saw it when it was installed. It's effective, but I know how to get past it. And on the other side is your Map, and the Wookiee you were seeking. Hope he's in a talking mood."

"So do it. You ready then, old man?"

Jolee humphed and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Course I am. Can't stand around too long here, the tachs'll eat you. Come on."

Anna frowned, then turned on her heel and started back towards the repulsor field.

"She seem all right to you?" Canderous hissed, as Carth ended up stalking at the back with him.

"She's worried about Zaalbar," Carth replied quietly, studying the back of Jolee's head. "It's not her I'm worried about."

Canderous chuckled. "Can't be worried about the old man."

"He knows more than he's saying."

"Heh. He's a Jedi, 'course he does."

Carth frowned.

#

"Isn't there  _something_  we can do?" Mission asked, flipping listlessly through her pazaak deck. Juhani traced a circle on the table with her nail.

"We must wait until they return," she said calmly.

Czerka had thankfully backed off the ship after what she thought was a stern dressing-down from the Jedi over holovid. The duo had even risked going out to the small repair stand for a few parts and hadn't been stopped. But without Anna, Carth, or Bastila for support, they didn't dare press their luck any further.

Mission sighed, smacking her deck on the table. "I just don't like not  _doing_  anything! Not while Big Z is out . . ." She bit down on her knuckle, swallowing hard. "What if they don't make it back? What if they die down there? We need to be there with them, we—"

"Anna, Bastila, and Carth are  _more_  than capable of taking care of themselves," Juhani assured her. "And with the Mandalorian and the droid they will not be overwhelmed."

"You don't even like Canderous."

Juhani bristled. "I may not like what he is, but I do not doubt his skill."

"Yeah." She sighed heavily, slouching in her seat.

A loud bang on the hull made them jump, Juhani's hand falling instantly to her double-bladed lightsaber. "Stay here."

"Juhani . . ." Mission grabbed her blaster off the table and slunk after her, activating her stealth generator.

Juhani was a Jedi, sure, and she was good too. But Mission didn't want her to get overwhelmed. And even a Jedi needed an extra blaster sometimes.

The Jedi reached her hand out for the button to unlock and lower the ramp, knuckles white on her lightsaber, thumb tense on the ignition. T3 chirped behind them as the ramp lowered, and HK-47's head suddenly swam into view.

"HK?" Mission asked, deactivating her belt.

"Statement: Yes, I would think so." He sounded unsurprisingly irritated. "Statement: Master sent me up here with an item. She stated that you would take it to the local shop." He held up a droid head, and Juhani reached out and snatched it away.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Condescending Answer: Obviously it is the remains of a droid. Apparently your meatbag eyes are failing. I can remedy that."

"Sh." Juhani handed the head to Mission. "Can you figure this out?"

In a matter of minutes Mission had produced the droid's last recording. "So the guy running the stand is a liar?"

"And a slave," Juhani spat. "Come on. We should remedy this."

"Statement: Excellent. I will return to the Shadowlands and attempt to protect Master from forceful disembowlment."

"Wait," Mission said. "How  _did_  you get up here?"

"Condescending Answer: Obviously I am an assassin droid, meatbag, I have  _some_  remaining capabilities." With that, HK turned and stalked back towards the settlement.

"Come on," Juhani said, taking the droid head back. "Let us go and free this man."

Mission nodded. "Yeah. This guy's obviously a scumbag."

As they left T3 to close the ramp and guard the ship, neither of them commented that at  _least_  HK's appearance meant that their friends in the Shadowlands were still alive.

#

"When was the last time you  _saw_  this Wookiee?" Anna asked, as they trudged along the Shadowlands. " _Or_  the Map?"

"Hush, you," Jolee scolded. "Aren't Jedi always on about patience anyway?"

"I've only been a Jedi for a little over two weeks," she retorted. "Not quite a lot of time to get the patience bit too drilled in." She tugged her over-robe tighter around herself, shivering in the cold. "It's freezing down here."

"There's a reason Wookiees have heavy fur."

"There's a reason I don't. Besides, your head must be damn cold."

"Anna, be nice," Bastila chided. Jolee chuckled.

"She's right though," Carth said. "He could be anywhere. So could the Map. You don't really know where you're going, do you?"

"'Course I do. I've lived down here for thirty years."

"Explains a lot," Canderous muttered, blaster rifle cradled in his arms.

"Observation." HK suddenly appeared out of the trees next to them, making everyone jump. "The organic meatbag we are apparently keen on locating is in this direction."

"Thank the  _stars_ ," Anna murmured. "Lead the way. And  _no shooting_."

HK made another disapproving whir and stalked off, leaving them to trot behind him. Anna pulled her robe even closer.

"You all right?" Carth murmured, trotting next to her. She nodded.

"It's just  _freezing_  down here."

"Yeah," he agreed.

They turned a corner, and there was suddenly an angry roar and a crash in the underbrush.


	28. Chapter 28

They barely had time to react before the large, enraged Wookiee, yelling about Czerka in the language only HK, Jolee, and Anna understood, stormed towards them, a large branch held like a sword out towards them.

"We're here to talk!" Jolee barked. Anna positioned herself between the group and the charge, though weapons had already jumped into hands. "Force, he's almost feral."

Anna glanced back at Bastila and nodded, and Bastila closed her eyes before pushing her hand out. The gray-furred alien stopped dead, less than a meter away from where he could have swung and hit Anna easily, frozen in the Force. Anna took a step forward.

"Hello," she said. "Believe it or not, we aren't here to hurt you. My friend and I here are Jedi, we were sent here for an artifact. We merely wish to speak to you. Do you know a Wookiee named Zaalbar?"

Something in the Wookiee's eyes changed almost instantly, and Anna nodded at Bastila again. She released the stasis hesitantly, and the Wookiee's shoulders slumped. " _Zaalbar is my son. How do you know of him?!_ "

"HK?" Bastila hissed, motioning at the Wookiee when the droid looked at her. He translated.

"He came here with me."

" _You claim to own him?!_ " It was a roar of rage. Anna shook her head.

"Not by any stretch of the imagination," Anna replied, hands still upheld. "Zaalbar is his own person. I saved him on Taris and he swore a life-debt to me."

The Wookiee — Freyyr, Anna remembered — sighed. " _Then he sees something of worth in you. I will listen, cautiously_."

"Thank you."

"Query: Ma—"

Carth clapped his hand over the droid's vocabulator.

"Chuundar is holding Zaalbar as a ploy to get us to do his dirty work, which I'm sure you can determine what it is," Anna explained.

" _Another instance of where our tradition has failed us,_ " Freyyr murmured. " _If I'd listened to him he would not have been exiled, and the slavers would not have this foothold. A year after he was exiled, Chuundar and Czerka sought to attack me. That is why I am here._ "

Jolee nodded. "Yes. I helped you escape, remember?"

" _Yes. Now I do. I'm sorry. I've been down here for so long . . ._ "

"All right." She relayed the information back to the others, then turned back to him. "Look. Chuundar, as I'm sure you're aware, is doing a  _fantastic_  job of ruining your people. Is there  _any way_  to get you put back in as the Wookiee leader?"

"Anna, we really —"

Anna delivered a harsh glare at Bastila. "If you have a better way of getting Zaalbar out of there, I'm all ears." Bastila sighed and shook her head. "I didn't think so. Freyyr?"

" _I . . . I'm not sure,_ " he admitted. " _There are old legends about a blade that was made from the first starship that crashed here, on Kashyyyk. The blade was long lost, but Chuundar holds the hilt. If we could find the blade . . ._ "

"This is insane!" Carth said, after Anna translated for them. "It's the Shadowlands, who  _knows_  where that is? It's like . . . It's impossible!" His tired brain failed to come up with an appropriate analogy, and he settled for just repeating the obvious.

"Uh . . ." Canderous looked sheepish for a second, then held up the blade of a vibrosword, covered in old green stains and bits of flesh. "You don't mean this, do you?"

Anna snatched it and handed it to Freyyr, who suddenly looked shocked. " _Yes, this . . . This is it. This is Bacca's Blade_."

"How in  _hell_ —" Carth started.

"What?!" Canderous motioned at it. "It got caught on my armor when we were ambushed by that thing—"

"The terentatek," Anna interrupted.

"Yeah. That. And I thought it looked the right shape for a piece on the swoop bike." He motioned. "But if it'll get us the hell out of here he can have it."

" _This is good._ " He nodded. " _I'll need several hours to spread word and see where my allies are._ "

"That's fine," Anna said. "We need to finish what we came down here to do. And be  _careful_."

" _I will be. Thank you, Anna Kyjjl._ " Freyyr nodded, and with barely a rustle disappeared into the underbrush.

"Well," Jolee said, though he didn't expand upon it.

"What can I say?" Anna replied. "I like a good revolt. Now where's this map? Wookiees aren't very quiet when it comes to rumors."

"Over here," Jolee said, pointing. "If I remember correctly and the moss is right and —"

"Just . . ." Anna stumbled over something, swearing vehemently in a variety of different languages. "Get us there?"

After nearly an hour of trudging through the Deep Shadowlands detritus, coupled with cussing from three of the six members of the party and more than a few run-ins with Mandalorian raiders to Canderous' delight, Jolee finally stopped them in a glade. Ahead of them was a massive computer system, and next to it—

"Star Map," Anna said, pointing.

"Yes, there it is. Stubborn machine. Good luck getting it to cooperate. I—"

A shimmering image in the form of an alien none of them had ever seen appeared next to the map. It nodded, bulbous eyes waving slightly with the motion. "Neural recognition complete. Match found."

Jolee whirled around. "What? No 'rejected patterns' this time?"

In the dim light of the Shadowlands as Anna stepped forward to address the machine, no one but Jolee noticed Bastila's sudden loss of color — and only he noticed because he thought to look for it.

#

Seven hours of silent trudging later found them back on the lift to the Great Walkway. Anna sewed a torn hem in her overrobe quietly, focused completely on the work in front of her. They didn't need to know each other well — though by this point they did — to know that, if it wouldn't draw attention, Carth would be pacing.

"Your—" He started.

"We've been over this," Anna replied, still focused on her needle. "That computer was primed to recognize Revan's personality. I had to think like him. I had to analyze each scenario from his perspective."

"But you didn't," Carth said. "You gave reasons for it that he wouldn't have."

"But they were the same answer." She shrugged, pulling her needle through the thick fabric. "It doesn't matter how I get to a conclusion as long as I do."

"So you would have let all those people die?" Carth asked. "If it were a real-world scena—"

"It wasn't," she replied sharply. "It wasn't a real world scenario and even if it was, the nuances of the situation could not be described hypothetically. I would need to see exactly where my allies and resources lay before making any such decision. And if in that case a city or world needed to be sacrificed I see no reason why it shouldn't be, with at least  _attempts_  at evacuations and warnings. If one billion die here for eleven billion to live there—"

"Don't tell the Jedi that," he muttered, crossing his arms. Anna scowled, knotting off her thread and breaking it between her teeth.

"Either way, we got the information we came for. It doesn't matter."

"So if you were in a situation and you had to sacrifice one of us for the greater good—" he started.

"I don't believe in a no-win scenario," she replied.

"That isn't an answer."

"I would, though it isn't a decision I'd make lightly. And I'd expect you to do the same." She packed her sewing kit back into her bag, frowning. "And I wouldn't be happy about it. But when you place one life against the needs of trillions . . ."

Carth sighed, leaning his head back against the rails. "No, that isn't . . ." He frowned. They couldn't get into a fight. Not here. "All right. I don't . . . I don't disagree with you, I just —"

"I know." She sighed, closing and latching her bag's flap. "The answers weren't very Jedi of me. I'm aware of that. I'm just surprised it's you giving me a lecture and not, well . . ." She cleared her throat and nodded at Bastila. Bastila frowned, but didn't reply.

Jolee chuckled, checking his supplies.

At the walkway, Anna sprang back into action. "Canderous, I need you to get to the ship and tell Juhani and Mission to get everyone who isn't a Czerka employee onto the  _Hawk_ for evacuation. So the shopkeeper, that mechanic we saw running around, Fortuna, everyone. Tell them to keep it quiet. Bastila, go with him, I need you to keep Mission on the  _Hawk_."

"Anna, I—" Bastila started. She put her hands on the taller woman's shoulders.

"I need you to go back," she said slowly. "If something goes wrong . . . Zaalbar may already be dead or gone. Mission trusts you and Juhani.  _I need you to keep her from doing anything rash._ "

"I will do what I can." As Anna released her and turned back, Bastila gave Jolee a wide-eyed look. He nodded.

"C'mon, princess," Canderous snarled, hefting his blaster over shoulder and starting off towards the Czerka outpost at a jog. With a glance back Bastila followed, sprinting after him.

"Come on." Anna turned on her heel and jogged off.

"Canderous could do it on his own," Carth said. "We may need two Jedi."

"We've got two Jedi." She jerked her thumb at Jolee. "Well, me and a not-Jedi with a lightsaber. And I'm riding on Freyyr having _some_  resistance built up in the village."

"If he doesn't?"

"We get Zaalbar and split. It's the sad truth." She jogged along the walkway at a pace that wasn't hard to keep for the others.

"Query." She glanced over her shoulder at HK. "The likelihood that this will result in bloodshed is very high?"

"Yes." She nodded. "So make sure your blaster is primed."

"Affirmation: Oh, master. It is always primed." The droid happily clicked it.

"I hope you're at least  _planning_ on talking," Jolee said.

"Planning, yes," Anna replied. "Thinking it'll work, on the other hand . . ."

#

"I need to be there!"

Juhani rubbed her forehead. "Mission, just let me talk to you."

With about ten people taking refuge for an undisclosed reason on their ship and half of them needing nudges through the Force to do so, Mission had realized that an attempt to rescue her friend was underway and insisted she be present. After realizing that Bastila, Juhani, and Canderous had no intention of letting her leave the ship, she stormed into the communications room and locked the door behind her. With Bastila and Canderous attempting to work together and keep the refugees from asking too many questions, it left only Juhani to run interference on the Twi'lek.

The door clicked, and Juhani pushed it open. Mission was curled up on one of the chairs, staring blankly at the screens. "Mission . . ." She started, digging her hands into her robes. "Anna is just doing what she thinks is best."

"She doesn't think he's alive," Mission murmured. "Or she doesn't think she'll get him out."

"No." Juhani sank down into the other chair. "No, Mission. She just knows that sometimes things do not go as she plans, and —"

"And she doesn't want to hurt me," Mission mumbled, a single tear trailing down her face. "But he's all I've got. If I don't have him . . ."

"It will be fine." Juhani reached over and rubbed her hand. "Anna will get him out."

Mission rubbed her sleeve over her eyes. "I hope so. It's . . . he's always doing stupid things to keep me out of trouble, and I just feel useless. Anna never lets me go with her and —"

"Anna doesn't want you to get hurt."

"But it's  _boring_ here. I can't even explore when we're in port! I . . . I feel so useless."

"Well," Juhani said, leaning forward. "We are supposed to Manaan next, yes?" Mission nodded. "I do not see why you and I could not gather information, maybe do some missions for her? Perhaps you, Zaalbar, and I?"

Mission's face lit as she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Manaan's supposed to be quiet, right? Anna wouldn't mind us doing things."

"No! And she would likely prefer it, since she will not have to spread her focus around."

Mission nodded. "Yeah! It'll be good. It'll —"

An alarm sounded, and their heads jerked up. "What is . . ."

"Everyone stay calm!" Bastila yelled from the main hold, over the sudden hubbub that echoed down the corridor. "Everyone just relax. We're in here. It means we're safe!"

Juhani stuck her head out. "Bastila? What is —"

Bastila glanced back. "Czerka's firing on the ship. Canderous is heading for the anti-personnel cannons but it means they've caused a stir in the village."

Juhani glanced back at Mission, who had slumped back in her chair, blue face turning even paler.

"Any news?"

Bastila shook her head.

#

Rwookrrorro was in chaos.

They sprinted behind their Wookiee guide, surrounded by the howls of arguments echoing through the trees. Their guide pushed through a crowd of Wookiees outside the Rwookrrorro hall, leaving a wake for the smaller humans and droid. In minutes they'd broken through into the hall.

The air inside was tense, radiating out from the two Wookiees standing apart in the middle. One clutched the blade of a vibrosword, the other the hilt. Anna spotted Zaalbar standing helplessly to the side as his brother and father argued.

Chuundar spotted their entrance quickly, roaring and taking a step forward. Zaalbar moved, placing himself between his brother and the approaching group, fur bristled and ready for action.

"You all right?" Anna asked. He nodded.

" _But some of the things Chuundar said . . ._ "

"Can we end this without violence?"

" _I doubt it, but we can try._ " Zaalbar took a step forward, pushing Zaalbar and Chuundar apart with a roar.

"Be ready." Anna took a step back next to the others. "Jolee, take the back and right with Carth. HK, you'll take the front left with me. Focus on the slavers first, and let us take care of the Wookiees and keep them off you."

"Anna," Carth started. She rested a hand on his arm.

"We'll be fine," Jolee said for her. Anna was busy watching the argument, then—

"Go!" she barked, sabers igniting close enough that Carth  _felt_ the heat coming off them, then throwing her on-hand lightsaber before rocketing off after it into a Wookiee about to charge into the family battle erupting in the middle of the room.

#

The fighting quieted down, and it was all they could do to keep Mission from running off the ship. As Juhani waited with her in the cargo hold, Bastila and Canderous carefully lowered the ramp.

"Should probably throw you out first, princess," Canderous said as the ramp thunked against the landing pad.

" _You_  are the one with the rifle," she chided, glaring at him. "But since you're obviously afraid—"

"Don't you even start, sister," Canderous said, pointing at her. "I'm not the one who got taken down by a street gang."

"Oh, and we've returned to that have we? At least I bested the w—man who defeated your people." Bastila stepped out of the ramp before Canderous could comment on her slip, had he even caught it.

Outside a pair of Wookiees had flanked the entrance to the Czerka encampment, the wood of the walkway shiny and wet. One of them turned and held out a vibrosword towards Bastila, who held up her hands.

"Uh, yes, I'm with Anna Kyjjl. She's a Jedi that was just in Rw-Rwo-your village."

The Wookiee said something unintelligible.

"He said that he knows who you are," Mission supplied, smoothly stepping past her. "Are they all right? Is Zaalbar all right?"

The Wookiee said something else. Mission sagged slightly, then turned and beamed back at them. "They're fine. They're escorting them back now. They would thank us more personally but they need to secure their borders."

Bastila nodded. "Thank you," she said, addressing the Wookiee. "We'll take those we have on our ship off-world."

"There is one guy," Anna interrupted, trotting up the walkway behind the guards. "Says he wants to live in the Shadowlands. Gain your respect." She shrugged, glancing up at the gray-haired Wookiee next to her. "I dunno. He might help you out against Czerka. He'll certainly have no love for them." The Wookiee shrugged and replied. She grinned. "I'll let him know."

Mission sprinted past her, throwing herself into Zaalbar's arms. The Wookiee hauled her up into what would be a crushing hug, letting her cling to his fur. Anna nodded at Bastila. "Everything went well?"

"It did."

"Who's that?" Juhani asked, nodding at the dark-skinned older man shoving something down in a bag. He waved his hand.

"Jolee. Jolee Bindo. Don't mind me, just catching a ride off world."

"We'll take you as far as Dantooine," Anna said. "Unless you want to stay here."

Jolee huffed and started towards the  _Hawk_.

"Is he —"

"It's a long story," Bastila replied, casting a half-glare at Canderous.

"All right," Anna called, waving to Zaalbar and Mission. "Come on, everyone. Back on the ship. The Wookiees need to do some housecleaning, and I doubt they'll want us around for it."


	29. Chapter 29

There was a Republic supply post about six hours from Kashyyyk towards Dantooine, and it was there that they stopped to drop off most of their Kashyyyk refugees. Jolee elected to stay on until Dantooine, and had busied himself poking at the synthesizer and mumbling under his breath.

Anna waited at the ramp, watching as Carth spoke urgently to one of the mechanics from the Czerka spaceport. When he finally turned back, she was surprised by the haunted look in his eyes. "You all right?" She asked, as he stepped back onto the ramp. He brushed past her. "Carth?" Anna slammed her hand into the ramp's lock and started after him. "Carth, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he murmured, heading for the cockpit. Anna trotted after him, shaking her head when Bastila gave her a questioning look.

Carth sank down into the pilot's seat and quickly found his place at the controls, lifting the ship off the pad and towards space. Anna stayed in the doorway, watching him worriedly. He was usually fluid at the controls, a mixture of rote memory and creativity that usually lead to a sharp crack about what else he could do with those hands, never ceasing to make him get the smallest tint of color in his face. This time he was almost clumsy, obviously focused on something other than his flying.

Once the ship was safely in the hyperspace lane, he sagged back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. Anna took a small step forward, gently resting her hand on his shoulder. He jumped. "Carth," she said quietly. " _Tell me what's wrong_."

"It doesn't matter," he murmured.

She ruffled his hair, smiling when he stilled her hands with his own. "Course it does," she replied. "I can't have you moping."

"I'm not moping."

She leaned down. "You are until you tell me."

Carth sighed and frowned. "You're the pushiest woman I've ever met," he murmured. "That was a friend of mine. Jordo. From Telos." Anna frowned, but nodded. "He saw Dustil."

"That's good!" Anna smiled though it felt like part of her stomach had dropped out, and she didn't know why. "Where? We should find him, let him know you're still alive. You can meet back up, get him set up somewhere . . ."

"He's on Korriban."

Anna's stomach fell further, though this time she knew why. "As what? A slave?"

"Worse." He gripped the hand on his shoulder. "He's in the Sith Academy, Anna. In training."

She frowned. "Oh." That was . . . that was not good at all.

"I need . . . I can't focus," he whispered, hanging onto her hand. "I need to know he's all right, I —"

"We'll leave for Korriban from Dantooine," Anna said, smoothing down his hair with her free hand.

"I . . . No. You'd planned to go to Manaan, the Jedi  _want_  you to go to Manaan, so we'll —"

"I've made my decision," Anna said firmly. "If Malak is keeping an eye on the Maps then he'll know where we're headed anyway. We've got Manaan or Korriban. We can keep him off-kilter if we hit Korriban. It'll be where we'll have the hardest time, and . . ." She frowned. "We'll need to infiltrate the academy then, since I doubt the Jedi. I'm sure the Map is well guarded on a Sith world, and that is likely our best chance."

"Anna, I . . ." She glared at him.

"Carth Onasi, what part of 'I've made up my mind' is unclear?" she teased, sinking into the co-pilot's seat. "We'll go to the Jedi, tell them the plan's changed, and then go to Korriban." Anna tucked her knees up to her chest, grasping her ankles in her hands. "We're going to Korriban, and we're going to find your son."

He nodded, and though his expression didn't change she could feel the relief pouring off him in waves. "I don't even know what to expect," he murmured. "He's a man now, and . . ."

"You're still his father," Anna replied.

"Yeah." He broke into a grin. "God, I . . . I never thought . . . I thought he was dead."

"But he's not." She grinned back. "And you're about to find him."

"Yeah." They sat in a companionable silence for a while, and he finally cleared his throat. "So, are you happy with how things went down on Kashyyyk?"

She shrugged. "We gave the Wookiees a chance. That's more than they'd had."

"Yeah. I suppose so." He looked back over. "Anna . . . Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She climbed to her feet. "I'll be back in the garage. I'm sure the gizka chewed through something on the swoop."

"Good luck avoiding Bastila."

Anna glared at him as she left, though her eyes twinkled slightly. Carth laughed, turning back to the controls.

Two days to Dantooine.

#

"There's been a change of plans," Anna announced as she, Bastila, and Juhani strode into their meeting with the Council.

"There has?" Bastila asked, confused. Anna hadn't told her that anything was changing.

"Yes. I understand that you wanted us to go to Manaan, and save Korriban for when an assault could be made on the Academy there. However that's no longer an option." She folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. "Besides, a frontal assault on a full Sith Academy would be suicidal by any stretch of the imagination. They'll have A/D cannons protecting the rear valley from air infiltration, and we would lose men by the hundreds attempting to cut across the desert outside their scanners."

"How do you know all this?" Vrook demanded. Anna didn't miss the looks they exchanged.

"I'm thinking of what I would have at a super-not-secret Sith base." Barely pausing, she continued. "I've made an executive decision that, for the safety of this mission, infiltration of the Sith Academy is the best course of action."

They were quiet, then Vandar cleared his throat. "And how do you plan to accomplish this?"

"I will gain entrance to the Academy as a fallen Jedi and a Sith hopeful."

The air in the room was suddenly tense, as if every molecule had been startled like an iriaz and frozen, hoping for the danger to pass. She opted not to comment on it.

"I'll take Onasi, under the guise of enslavement, and the combat droid as companions into the Academy. Meanwhile everyone else will run surveillance on the spaceport for as long as necessary. I'll discern the location of the Star Map, locate it, retrieve the data, and leave."

"I do not—"

"We must discuss this." Zhar delivered a stern look towards Vrook before starting towards a side room, the rest of the Council following him.

"What prompted this?" Juhani asked, suspicious. Bastila glared at her. Anna kept her arms stubbornly folded.

"It's the best time to strike at Korriban," she replied simply.

"There's something more," Bastila said. "And you're hiding it."

Anna sighed heavily, looking at the Council's conference room. "Carth's son is on Korriban."

Juhani shook her head quietly, but didn't comment. Bastila exploded. "You are  _merely_  doing this for this . . . this  _crush_  you have on him! You think that by saving his son you'll endear your—"

"I'm doing this because it's the right  _choice_ ," Anna said vehemently. "Sure, his son played a role in my final decision, but if we get the map on Manaan and then head to Korriban we could face the entire Sith  _fleet_. Manaan will be safe as our last planet because Malak can not place too many men there to stop us, without risking the loss of his kolto supply. And he'll  _expect_  us to save Korriban for last, and to attack it as a full assault with Republic forces and Jedi backing us up. From what I can tell the academy is a fortress. The best way is to infiltrate it, and if you want an infiltrator you'll need me. You're too recognizable and Juhani, you're just . . . too  _nice._ You need someone who would be able to act like a Sith, and that's  _me._ "

Bastila opened her mouth to argue.

"For Force's  _sake_ , Bastila! Smack some hair dye on me and hand me some black robes and you'll never be able to tell the difference! It's simple, easy, and I don't have to rely on the Force with it. No one will expect a Jedi to attempt to gain entrance to  _spy_  on them! And besides. Can either of you slice a lock? Hack a computer? No?" They shook their heads. "Well what if the information we need is locked away somewhere? Sure, you could sneak around to find it Juhani, but if you couldn't open the lock there would be no point. And Bastila, you'd be too busy lecturing the Sith to do anything — and don't even  _think_  of arguing with me on that. I—"

They hadn't noticed the return of the Council, and didn't until Vandar calmly cleared his throat. Anna whirled around, looking surprised. Her eyes flicked back to Bastila. How much had they heard? Were they about to remove Carth from the mission? If they did —

"After some discussion we've agreed that this is the safest course of action," Vandar explained. "Padawan Anna's reasoning is sound, and she will have the best chance of posing as a true hopeful at the academy. Bastila, it would be safest for you to remain on the ship and liaising with us here on Dantooine. Juhani, you will coordinate any support that she needs to carry out her infiltration." The three women nodded, Anna's hands knotting in her robe. "Padawan Anna, ensure that you are careful. Korriban will be an easy world to slip to the dark side on — you must resist."

"Falling is completely outside the parameters," she said, her voice carrying the half-lilt of sarcasm that it usually did. Vrook looked ready to explode, but not before Zhar stepped fluidly in.

"Anna, Juhani, you may leave. Bastila, we must speak to you alone."

Bastila nodded meekly. Anna cast a suspicious look at her before leaving.

"You are concerned?" Dorak asked.

"Of course I am, Master Dorak," she replied. "I have a difficult enough time keeping an eye on her when we're on the same ship. Separated . . . I don't . . ."

"You must rely on the strength of the bond you share," Zhar said. "You will be able to keep her strong, and to feel her slipping."

"The nature of this bond is different than many we've seen," Dorak explained. "You can sense her emotions and her dreams, because both are strong. But because  _she_  is strong, she can sense yours. She is like a wild animal, Bastila — she senses when you are apprehensive or hesitant, and if you let her she will take advantage of that. You must bury your concern and your worry, or else she will be less capable of resisting the dark side on a planet where that darkness is strong."

"If we did not think you capable," Vrook added. "We would not have sent you with only one other Padawan for aid. A Padawan that we did  _not_  tell about Anna's identity. A master would have accompanied you. But you are capable of this."

"You will do well," Vandar said, his voice carrying a note of finality. "As you always do. Report back to us regularly with Anna's progress — all of it. We will not hesitate to recall you and her should she seem close to falling, but you must do all in your power to prevent that."

"Even an amnesic Revan could destroy the Republic," Vrook said. "She does not need her memories to be dangerous, as we just saw."

"Even blind to the Sith Academy she described it perfectly," Zhar explained. "Unless she has been experimenting with the Force, the only way she could have known that was either the return of her memories—"

"Unlikely," Vandar interrupted.

"—or the strategic mind that Revan possessed. Imagine if she applied the logic she just showed to taking down the Republic once more."

Bastila didn't need to.

"Korriban is your destination," Vandar said. "Do not let us down, Padawan. May the Force be with you."

#

"You're definitely going to need something that . . . isn't what you usually wear."

Carth frowned as Anna peered through the small Dantooine outposts' stock. "Like  _what_?"

"Well, I'll let you wear that damnable jacket again," she said, pursing her lips. "But you'll need something . . . slavey."

"Slavey?"

"Well it's not like I make a habit of buying people." She thrust out a rough tunic and pair of pants. "Try—"

"Look." He pushed it aside. "I'll just wear what I wore on Taris. You know, what  _goes_  with my flight jacket? It's not like it has insignia on it."

"You'll still need a better shield generator. Several of them. And you'll be carrying our things so . . . definitely a larger bag."

"Anna, I—" He tried to stop her as she tugged at a large knapsack on the wall. "If I'm carrying it, shouldn't I pick it?"

She frowned. "Fine. Budget's five hundred. If you want to go over it let me know." She wandered back to a stock of vanity items, promptly locating a pair of yellowish lenses and then beginning to scour the dyes. "Flyboy?"

He frowned as he selected a pack that felt fairly lightweight but sturdy. "Yeah?"

"What color should I go?" She held up a bottle of brown dye next to her hair, frowning.

"What color are you feeling?"

She shrugged, doing the same thing with a bottle of blonde. "Not really feeling any color. I like mine."

He peered at the rack from over her shoulder. "Well, what about this?" He reached over her shoulder and plucked up a bottle of a dark golden color, holding it next to the test strand she'd been grasping. "This would probably hide you the best."

"Think so?"

He shrugged. "Go to a light color from a darker one? Yeah, I'm sure."

"You know an awful lot about hair dye." She frowned at the bottle, rolling it in her hands.

"Well . . . Never know when you're going to have a good infiltration mission."

He suddenly realized how close he was standing, Anna pressed completely against him, almost pinned between him and the rack. He took a quick step back. "Anyway, unless you need anything else I think we're done. I'll be up talking to the shopkeeper." He hastily retreated. Anna stared after him, suddenly feeling awfully lonely after losing his warmth at her back. She looked back down at the bottle and shrugged.

"Sure, I'll go blonde," she murmured, following him to the Twi'lek shop owner.

#

Anna held a wrench in her teeth, nimble fingers getting back into a crevice in HK-47's chassis to solder a wire. The droid was walking her through it though she'd insisted she hadn't needed his guidance, and she was fairly certain that he might actually club her if she messed up.

"So," she said around her wrench, rerouting a wire for more efficiency. She was amazed at how well-built the droid had been initially — it was mostly routine damage from being involved in major firefights and his former deactivation, but whoever had built him made him robust. "Has any more of your memory reactivated?"

"Statement: Negative, master."

She pursed her lips — not surprising, as she'd only worked on him a couple of times before. "I'm sure that it'll just be a couple more sessions, and we'll have you working as good as new."

"Statement: I can—"

"Anna?"

"Mm?" She looked up as Canderous leaned on one of the doorways at the entrance to the garage.

"Did you know that old coot was moving in?"

She squinted at him, then spat the wrench out of her mouth. "What?!" Ignoring HK's open chassis, she jumped back to her feet.

"He's got medbay all full of shit."

Anna sprinted out of the garage, wrench and droid — who protested loudly but dared not move — left behind. She almost slid past the entrance to the medical bay, but caught herself on the doorframe. Sure enough, Jolee was humming as he cheerfully integrated his collection of herbs and medicines into the medbay's own stock. "What the  _hell_  are you doing?!"

"Organizing. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You know what I meant." She crossed her arms. "Why the hell are you organizing on my  _ship_?"

"You didn't expect me to just  _leave_  after I helped you, did you? Well, that's gratitude for you." He turned and leaned back against the counter, echoing her crossed arms.

"No, it isn't . . ." Anna huffed. "Look, I don't care. I just would've appreciated a warning, is all."

"I was going to tell you before we left." He looked around. "Hope the food on this bucket gets better with time."

Anna sighed.

"Don't you give me that."

"Are you going to have a problem with anyone?"

Jolee gave her a look that, while mostly indescribable, made her feel incredibly stupid. "Why would I?"

"Well, Canderous and HK have a problem with mostly everyone, Juhani has a problem with Canderous, Carth has a problem with himself —"

"I'll be fine. Keep to myself anyway."

"Yeah." Anna grinned. "Tell that to Bastila when she badgers you into meditation tonight. She's very persistent."

"I find myself  _not_  surprised."

"Men's dorm is the port one," she continued. "Canderous  _does_  tend to walk around half-naked, mostly because it bothers Bastila. Mission eavesdrops on everything with her stealth generator, so if you need to have a serious conversation make sure you know exactly where she is and lock the room you're having it in. Carth has trust issues, and don't mention Taris around Juhani. Oh, and don't take HK personally, he hates everyone." She paused, thinking. "I think that's it."

"And what about you?" Jolee watched as her eyes narrowed.

"Don't start trouble and we won't have a problem."

"Sure. Doesn't sound too hard." Jolee turned back to his herbs. She gave a curt nod and turned on her heel, heading back towards the garage.

As soon as she was gone, he chuckled. Yes, interesting indeed.

#

"Anna, may I speak with you?"

Anna closed the panel on HK, looking over her shoulder. "Sure, Juhani."

She glanced at Canderous harshly, then at the droid. " _Privately?_ "

Anna sighed and motioned Juhani to the cargo hold, checking for Mission before closing the door. She and Zaalbar should have been in the main hold at that hour, however. "What do you need?"

Juhani wrapped her hands in her robe. "I fear going to Korriban."

"Because it's a dark side world?"

"Partially." Juhani sighed and looked up. "I have . . . not been completely honest with you, Anna."

"And I take it you'd like to be?" She nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, out with it, then."

"I never told you where I came from?" Juhani asked. Anna shook her head. "Well . . ." She took another deep breath. "I was not raised on the Cathar homeworld. My parents were on one of the few evacs off the homeworld when the Mandalorians attacked us. I was an infant. They escaped to a world on the Outer Rim with the intent of coming further into the Republic, only to end up trapped on a world  _you_  destroyed."

"I . . . I haven—oh." Anna's eyes widened. "No."

"Taris!" Juhani snapped. "Taris was my homeworld, the world Malak destroyed to kill your precious Bastila!"

Anna held up her hands. "Firstly, Bast—"

"Please, let me finish!" She pleaded, and Anna's mouth snapped shut. "I may have hated that world, but it was all I knew before I came to the Jedi! All of it, destroyed in an instant! And it was your fault!"

Anna almost argued; stated that it hadn't been her fault. It'd been  _Malak's_  fault, and if they wanted to go further back it'd been _Revan's_  fault for causing the war, and if she wanted to take it to another leap of logic and join in with one of the more popular theories surrounding Revan's fall it'd been the  _Jedi's_ fault for not getting involved in the Mandalorian Wars in the first place. But as Juhani took another shuddering breath, her shoulders sagging, Anna held up her hand again. "Have you finished?"

"Yes," Juhani said with a short nod, eyes on the floor. "I should not have lashed out at you. I—"

"No," Anna said. "Sure, you were angry, but . . . But it wasn't misplaced, Juhani." She drew a deep breath. "If I had done my job better, protecting Bastila and the fleet above Taris, we would not have been forced to land on the world. And Malak would not have needed to attack the planet in an attempt to kill her."

"You could not have protected an entire ship," Juhani said.

"No," Anna agreed. "But will likely blame myself forever for that. And I am sorry, Juhani."

"I know. And I . . . I do not blame you. I just needed . . ."

"You needed to tell me. I understand." She frowned. "It could not have been easy for you, growing up on a xenophobic world."

Juhani sighed. "It was not. But I do not want to bore or burden you."

"You won't." Anna reached to grasp her shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly despite the fact that Juhani was easily a head taller than her. "Tell me about it. If you want. We have all the way to Korriban."

She smiled.


	30. Chapter 30

Jolee surprisingly fit very well into the rhythm of the  _Hawk_. He put up a show of resistance but eventually gave into Bastila's demands to join them for meditation in the cargo bay after dinner. Anna thought he spent most of it staring at her as she fidgeted and attempted to get comfortable, a process that never happened since Bastila kept subtly disapproving of her fidgets. Juhani, of course, sat with catlike stillness.

"Anna!" Bastila finally snapped, her patience thin. "Sit  _still_. This is an exercise in  _patience_ , and —"

"It's not  _comfortable_!" She complained, wiggling again before motioning at Bastila. "You've got  _padding_. I've got bone."

Bastila scowled, the smallest touch of pink coloring her cheeks. "Anna,  _hush_. Focus." She delivered another glare at Jolee, who was busy chuckling at her.

"I can't focus if people are watching me." She wiggled a little, trying to get comfortable. Bastila rolled her eyes and nodded at Jolee.

"Stop staring at her, so she will not act like a child."

"I'm not acting like a child!" she protested, wiggling again. "Why do you get a cushion?"

"Because  _you_  are in training."

"Then why does the not-Jedi get a cushion?" She motioned at Jolee.

"Because he's old. Now hush, and focus."

Anna shifted again as she closed her eyes, then shifted again. After another several minutes, she let out a frustrated huff. "And just  _what_  am I supposed to be doing right now?"

Bastila sighed in frustration. "You're supposed to be focusing on the Force. Centering yourself in preparation for the assault on Korriban."

She huffed again. "Because what I  _should_ be doing is preparing for myself, my droid, and Carth to go into hostile territory for close to a month. Perhaps less if I work quickly, perhaps more if there are problems. I need to dye my hair so the smell is gone by landing tomorrow evening, and then style it in a way that will require little to no maintenance. I need to pack the med-pacs and antivenoms and poison antidotes and the bandages and repair kits and extra crystals and everything and I don't have  _time_  to focus on anything except  _that_." She stood, brushing off her robe. "Fine.  _I'll_  go get ready, and then if you're still in here I'll join you. And if not, I'll do it myself." She strode back out, grabbing the knapsack she and Carth had purchased off a crate by the door and marching towards the fresher.

"She does that a lot, I take it?" Jolee asked.

Bastila sighed and nodded. "Often enough."

#

Carth watched the stars fly by in hyperspace, arms crossed. Quiet steps sounded behind him, and he didn't turn.

"Stormed out of meditations again?"

"Yep." Anna settled in the chair next to him and he looked over, then blinked.

"You . . . Ah . . . It's a good color."

Anna rubbed a straw-gold lock of hair between her fingers. "It's weird.  _I_ don't even recognize myself anymore. Besides." She let it fall, then looked back over at him. "You picked it."

"I have good taste."

"Go ahead and tout yourself," she laughed. "You may want to smear some dye on your hair, you know?"

Carth ran a hand through his brown hair, two strands flopping back over his eyes. "And lose this? I'd be a disgrace to humans everywhere."

"You flatter yourself." She climbed out of her chair and popped herself up on the center console, settling herself on the flat plane between buttons. She dropped her boots into his lap as he turned to face her. "You could do some highlights. Lighten your hair. You're on the shit list as well, after all."

He sighed. "Might need your help with that, gorgeous." Almost unconsciously he started rubbing her boot. "Can't see what I'm doing."

"Only because you're blind." He laughed. "How far out are we?"

"We'll be there around midafternoon. More than enough time for you to do your spying." He closed something on the console. "You've got a pair of robes ready?"

"Yeah. The Jedi managed to secure a pair of small black robes and I took them in a little. Lightsabers are both red now, though they suspect I'll have to change to vibroblades." She scoffed. "Though I did go through training once. I've packed medpacs, antidote kits, extra kolto ointments, bandages, packaged water and food, a bedroll, etcetera into that knapsack, along with extra focusing crystals for me, repair kits and some spare parts for HK, medical supplies from Jolee, things like that."

"You trust him?"

She shrugged. "I don't think he's a Sith. I think he's got an ulterior motive for being here. I think he's a cantankerous old bastard, though, and that means we'll probably get along. So far, he's hit it off with Mission, and Juhani says she 'doesn't sense the darkness' in him, which counts as a vote of confidence. And from the little I've spoke to him, I think he's a valuable asset."

"Hm." Carth nodded. "Yeah. He's definitely more personable than Bastila."

"A  _rock_  is more personable than Bastila."

He laughed. "Good point."

"So. You ready?"

Carth shrugged. "It sounds like you've got everything figured out. As usual." He rubbed her boot. "You mind?"

She shook her head. "Not at all." He gave her the  _look_ , and she grinned before dropping her feet back to the floor. "They were clean. I'm not Canderous."

"Yeah, well, if it'd been Canderous with his feet in my lap . . ." He stood, resting his hands on the console on either side of her hips. "There'd be some problems."

"I'd . . . hope so." She swallowed heavily in the middle of her sentence, staring up at him. Carth tore his eyes away from hers with some effort, stepping away. "Anyway, you should probably make sure that you have everything. Trips back to the ship will be rare, if not nonexistant."

"Fair enough." He swung his jacket back on. "You going to be up here?"

"Sure." He padded out of the cockpit and Anna settled in his chair, tucking her knees up to her chest.

She was getting close to admitting that she had a problem. Not a problem with him, or at least not anymore.

But it was becoming a problem.

She drew a deep breath and stared out into hyperspace before tucking her feet under herself, closing her eyes and reaching out for the Force.

She was  _so_  going to retire after this.

 _With Carth?_ A nasty little voice added. She glared at it mentally. By herself, on a deserted planet. Maybe with HK.

_And with Carth. You know you want to._

She murmured some impressive profanity and focused again, silencing the voice as she slipped into meditation.

#

The dream was about the same as it "usually" was.

This time what pressed on her was an almost painful static, a heavy weight of just pure disgust. Like it somehow knew she shouldn't be present, or it just hated everyone.

It was a tomb - she knew that much. There were carvings on the walls that she didn't recognize, nor was she particularly in the mood to look closer.

Surprisingly it seemed as if Revan had removed his mask, possibly because the air was hot and muggy and he would have been sweating insanely under it. Malak, of course, hovered over Revan's shoulder as usual as the Map unfolded. There was a trepidation, a discontent — of course, Anna thought. This was likely the first Map they'd located after the one on Dantooine, going to a planet that would be safe for them.

She woke with another start, thankfully managing to stay on her bed this time. Bastila moved a few seconds later, and Anna rocketed to her feet and out of the dormitory without bothering to pull her boots on, throwing her robe about her as she marched out towards the caffa machine.

Bastila bounded in after her, looking awake and energized. "This one came earlier."

Anna grunted, settling down at her seat.

"There is still several hours before everyone is awake. I—"

"Well wake them up," Anna snapped, her mug clenched just under her nose. Bastila nodded and set off.

The rest of the crew trickled in, several staggering for the caffa machine. Canderous walked in last, shirtless as usual as he headed for his own breakfast. Carth set a bowl of oatmeal in front of Anna, who grunted out a thanks and downed a large swallow of her caffa.

"We have seen the next Star Map," Bastila announced, looking as impeccable as usual. Anna's frown deepened. She hated these stupid visions. "It appears to be in a cave of some sort—"

"A tomb," Anna corrected.

"A tomb," Bastila said with a nod. "She is correct. Anna, you have a plan for when we land on Korriban tonight?"

Anna nodded, pushing her oatmeal around with her spoon. "I do not want to leave the ship yet," she started. "I'm worried about being marked as a Jedi before getting into the Academy. Bastila has been asked to stay on the ship, and I must ask that anyone who would seem suspicious stay on board as well. Juhani, that includes you; Jolee, if you believe that you can mask yourself well enough—"

"I've done my fair share of infiltrations, missy," Jolee replied. "If I need to step off the ship, I'll be fine."

"Canderous, Mission, feel free to leave. Zaalbar, I doubt you wish to." He growled and shook his head. "Mission, Czerka is here so I'd prefer you leave with Canderous or Jolee. T3, you're probably safe." The droid chirped as he rolled past towards the engine room. "Meanwhile, Carth, and HK will accompany me into the Academy under the guise of slaves. We will attempt to remain in contact with you. Canderous, you can act as the pilot on the ship, should anyone ask." He nodded as she continued. "I doubt we'll be able to check in very often, but we will check in as often as possible. Our line is triple encrypted by the Jedi — it will hopefully be enough to keep the Sith out of our communications. From what we do know the Academy runs on a monthly cycle — each month, one student is selected to rise to the Sith. Usually it's a student who has been there for at least six — however, I hope to be out in a month. We don't have much longer." She swirled her caffa. "Questions?"

"You're sure about this?" Carth asked quietly. Anna glanced over at him.

"We don't have much of a choice." She looked back up, meeting Mission's eyes. "Now, Mission, I need you and T3 to do something  _very_  important for me when we land."

#

"So," Mission asked, flipping her card. "How do you get accepted into the academy?"

The young Sith across from her laughed drunkenly, flipping his card in reply. Anna hadn't wanted to be seen asking around about the Academy, not wanting to show her hand so quickly after their arrival. After a brief trip scouting the spaceport with HK, she'd returned to the  _Hawk._

Meanwhile, Mission's request to participate more in the group's mission had, to Zaalbar's chagrin, been acknowledged and answered. Anna had sent her and T3 off into Dreshdae to find out how  _exactly_  one went about gaining entrance to the Academy from drunk Sith trainees.

"You lookin' to get in?" the Sith slurred, examining his deck.

"Not at all." Mission laughed. "Just curious."

"I got noticed!" he proclaimed proudly, before leaning in conspiratorially. "Got a Sith to spot me! They like it, you know, when you harass other prospectives. 'Specially if you use the Force."

"Ah," Mission said.

"And we got lucky this time. No damn fallen Jedi to sweep in and get admitted. They always — damn it!" Mission collected her winnings, and he frowned. "Fallen Jedi are always the worst. All self-important and thinking they're better than everyone else." Mission opted to not comment that he'd said the same thing in two separate ways.

"So how do you know?" she asked, reshuffling the electronic deck and selecting more cards for her hand. "Do you get a letter, or —"

He produced a small bronze medallion, the Sith symbol engraved on either side. He flipped it through his fingers. "Give you this. Got it by torturing a pair of prospectives. Weak idiots." Mission nodded, just keeping from looking distasteful.

"So is it linked to you? Through the Force or biometrically or —"

"Nope! But no one dares mess with someone who has one." He thumbed through his credits, frowned, then yelled for another drink. Mission let another smile cross her face.

"Are you good for another game?" she asked, as the bartender slammed his drink down by his elbow.

"Runnin' low on credits," he said, downing a decent amount of his drink in one swallow. "But you're more fun than most of the schuttas in this place.

"Oh," Mission said, glancing at the medallion where it rested next to his elbow and resisting the urge to grin. "I'm  _sure_  we can work something out.


	31. Chapter 31

"It's almost  _itchy_ ," Anna complained. She was pacing the main hold, busy twisting her hair up onto her head in a style that would hold for days at a time. Deep black robes from the Council hugged her form, taken in several sizes to account for her small bulk, and the yellow-tinted lenses she'd purchased were in place, turning her eyes a strangely eerie color of green. "The energy."

"That is a hallmark of it," Bastila said from her spot at the table. "The dark side. It is strong here on Korriban."

"You'll have to be careful," Jolee said from the synthesizer. "Force, what sort of gunk is  _in_ here?!"

"Let me know if you get it working," Anna replied, dropping back down at the table with a sigh. Zaalbar lumbered through on his way to the water dispenser, grumbling out a greeting before retreating back to the cargo hold. "I just want to get this over with. Admittance to the Academy is tomorrow and I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

"You sent Mission out to find out. Hopefully it'll be easy from there." Jolee crinkled his lip as he dug in the synthesizer. "And I can try to get this working."

Anna laughed. "Carth and T3 have been working at it for nearly six months, what with my training and all. Good luck."

"Hmp." He finished pulling the front panel off. "That or I'll have to start frying up some of these gizka."

"Gizka are disgusting to eat," she replied, sighing.

HK tromped back into the main hold from the ramp. "Statement: The organic female meatbag known as Mission Vao is requesting entry. Request: Might I blast her, master?"

"Let her in, HK, you'll be doing more than enough blasting soon."

"Statement: Yes, master." His voice carried that smallest tone of disgust again before he stomped off.

"Thank the stars we get in enough fights that it keeps him happy," she said. "Otherwise I think he might blast the lot of you."

T3 rolled in first, followed closely by Mission. She was grinning, her hand clenched in a fist. "Anna!" she said happily. "Guess what I found!"

"Please tell me it's the Star Map," Anna said. Mission shook her head.

"Unfortunately, no. But — here!" She flicked a small piece of bronze towards her, and Anna caught it. "There's your ticket into the Academy."

Anna turned it over in her hands as Bastila leaned over her shoulder. "How — how'd you find this?" she asked.

"Beat the Sith who got it at pazaak. He wagered it fair and square." She grinned, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the bulkhead. "He'll be running for the first transport off-world soon. Apparently if you lose your medallion you're as good as dead on Korriban."

"Mission, you signed his death sentence," Bastila said, somewhat reproachfully.

"As I see it he signed it when he joined the Sith," Mission retorted. "Besides, they don't track who does and who don't get medallions. It's like they expect these things to happen."

"This is good though." Anna rubbed it between her forefinger and thumb. "So the acceptance . . . thing . . . is in the morning. Carth and I will get up early and take HK out, and we'll stick by the plan. We've got the secured comm line so Carth can keep you updated and we'll hopefully find it sooner rather than later." She stood, medallion clenched in hand. "In that vein, I'm going to grab some shut-eye. Flyboy!" The last word she yelled down the hall to the cockpit. "Get some sleep!"

"What?!" Came the reply, echoing down the hallway.

"Get some sleep!" she repeated, before heading off for the dorm.

"Damn, she can yell," Jolee said. Bastila nodded as Carth walked out of the hallway, wiping his hands on a cloth.

"What'd she want?" he asked.

"She said for you to get some rest. You will be leaving early tomorrow," Bastila explained.

"Oh. That's it?" He shrugged. "All right. See you all later."

With that, he set off for the opposite dormitory himself.

Bastila looked over at Jolee. "Jolee, is —"

"She'll be fine," Jolee answered, head buried in the main synth panel. "Besides, Carth's paranoid enough that he'll drag her right back here if anything happens."

Bastila nodded. "I suppose you're correct. I—"

The conversation stopped as Mission headed back through the hold, searching for food. Bastila stood and headed for the storage room as Jolee and Mission began arguing about the best way to fix the machine.

"Itchy" was a good word to use.

#

"You know what you're going to have to do, right?" Anna asked as they left Dreshdae and headed towards the Academy. They'd already assumed their roles, Carth walking a step behind her with HK stalking ahead. She walked taller, her head high with her now-blonde hair adding several inches to her height. His armor was tucked in the knapsack, darkened with charcoal. He carried the fully-loaded sack on his back, looking every bit the slave-turned-bodyguard he was supposed to.

"What?" he replied, huffing in the heat.

"You are going to have to call me  _master_ ," she said.

"Oh." Carth swiped a hand across his brow, sweat sticking to his skin. "I am  _not_  going to call you—"

"You  _have_  to," she teased. "I own you, after all."

"You'd get tired of it."

"There I think you're wrong, flyboy. Because for once —" She turned, walking backwards a few steps. "For once,  _I_  don't have to put up with your lip."

"I'm the most abused man in the universe," he replied, mock hurt in his voice. She grinned, but didn't answer as the guard at the front of the Academy stepped forward to stop them.

"This is a —"

"I am a member of this Academy," Anna proclaimed, thrusting her medallion out at the guard. "So I suggest you step aside."

He examined the medallion, then handed it back. "Welcome to the Academy."

"I would hope so," she retorted, beginning to start past him. He held out his arm.

"Your . . .  _companions_ —"

"Are a droid and a slave," she interrupted, sweeping her arm at them. "They're of little concern."

"I assume that you will keep them from being disruptive?"

Carth shifted uncomfortably under the silver-armored man's scrutiny. "No more than our 'master' will be," he murmured. A corner of Anna's mouth twitched.

"What was that?"

"Oh, uh . . . nothing, sir," Carth covered quickly.

"I do not tolerate disruptiveness in my slaves," Anna replied, then cast a disapproving glare at Carth. "He's new."

The Sith stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded and stepped aside. Anna breezed past him, and Carth gave the guard the smallest glance as he walked by.

"Stay in the entryway," Anna murmured as they walked through the hall. "I'm expecting you to keep a leash on HK."

"Thanks. That'll go over well."

They reached an open area and Carth hung back next to the droid as Anna marched forward to join a group of people who could only be the other Sith recruits. He leaned against the wall, keeping his head down as guards paced past him.

"Query—"

"Sh," he hissed. "Don't interrupt."

HK whirred.

The "ceremony," which was essentially a loosely-planned pep talk with a few comments on how to "gain prestige" and do other such things, lasted far longer than Carth would have liked. By the time Anna had received her fair share of glares and her room assignment, an hour had passed. She walked back as the other recruits split, each one glaring at her back in turn.

"Come with me," she said, her voice losing none of the arrogance or coldness it'd had since talking to Yuthura Ban in the cantina that morning. Carth straightened and nodded, setting off after her. HK made a noise that sounded suspiciously like the droid equivalent of a laugh as he walked behind them.

Once in the small cubby that was hers, Anna let her shoulders slump. "Gods  _damn_  it," she murmured, sinking down onto her bed. Carth dropped his knapsack and reached out to touch her shoulder.

"You all right?"

She nodded quietly. "It's just the energy here. It's heavy." She rubbed her arms. "Think they could turn the heat on, too."

He sat down next to her, rubbing her arms briskly. Every bone in his body wanted to go off and look for his son, but . . . "Are you going to be all right? We can —"

"I'll be fine," she snapped, then shook her head. "Sorry. I'll be fine, Carth. Come on." She stood, clipping her medallion to her belt above her on-hand lightsaber. "Let's find your son."

"We don't need to — we —"

"I need to explore anyway. Find the Sith Code. Do things like that." She cracked her neck. "Uthar expects us to report first thing in the morning. First come, first serve. So let's get this taken care of."

He nodded, standing with her. "Any idea where he is?"

"No. But I'm allowed anywhere." She jerked her head. "It's their day off, however. Apparently they get one every time a new class comes in. So once a month. We'll figure it out."

"All right." He nodded.

"HK, watch my quarters."

The droid whirred. "Statement: As you desire, master."

"Why do I believe that he'd be rolling his eyes if he had any?" Carth murmured as they started down the hall, respectfully staying a step behind her as they'd discussed.

"Because he would be."

"Ah, there's my favorite trainee." Anna drew up sharply as Yuthura Ban stepped out of the cubby next to hers.

"Your . . . favorite? It's a bit early for that sort of judgment, isn't it?"

"No. I sense greatness in you. It is not difficult — I have little doubt that you will gain the required prestige to impress Master Uthar."

"Thanks, I think." Anna paused, chewing on her lip. "Actually, his first test is to report to him with the Sith code. I—"

"Ah, yes. I suspect you are only familiar with the flawed Jedi code. Let us discuss this then."

Carth waited as Yuthura pulled Anna into her cubby, and about ten minutes later she reemerged with a datapad clenched in her hands. "All right," she murmured. "Apparently Yuthura wants to kill Uthar and she wants me to help her and I think that this was possibly a very very bad idea."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She handed Carth the datapad. "So far everything's gone well."

"We've been in here for less than a day," she replied as they started back down the hallway.

"Yes, and so far it's been fine."

They explored the Academy's quarters, stumbling across Uthar's room and meeting several of the other recruits. While her class was referred to as the strongest in several months, there were numerous advanced students who hadn't been able to gain enough prestige. Mostly the tombs remained uncleared — students were killed quickly in them, and the others had decided that the prestige wasn't worth it.

Anna thought that would make it easier for them.

They'd cleared through most of the academy, smaller than she'd expected, with no sign of Dustil. Carth looked concerned, though she knew he was hiding it. He didn't want to blame her and she knew it, but she knew the doubt in his eyes. What if they hadn't gotten here fast enough? What if he'd tried to tackle a tomb several days before and been killed? What if they'd just been too late?

Then they turned the next corner.

Cross-legged on a bed was a Sith who could have been no more than sixteen, a mop of dark brown hair hanging into his eyes in a way that was very recognizable. Apart from the hair he looked nothing like the man following her; she figured he must have taken after his mother, and that was likely a boon for them. If he had looked very much like Carth . . .

Carth rounded the corner after her, freezing dead in his steps. The boy looked up, seeing Anna first.

"Can I . . . _help_  you?"

"Perhaps," Anna started. "Are you-"

"Dustil!" Carth's voice was barely louder than a hiss, but she knew if they'd been on the street it would have been a scream. "Dustil, is that you?!" He took a step forward. Anna stepped to the side, glancing back at him.

"Oh, lovely." He sprung off his bed, crossing his arms as he glared at Carth. "It's  _father_. Figures you'd show up  _now_. How did you even get in here?"

"Through the front doors," Anna replied. "Obviously."

"Cute," Dustil replied. The color had drained out of Carth's face. "I wonder how interested Master Uthar would be to know just who he has in here. Unless you've switched sides, father? Hah. I doubt that." He frowned, scrutinizing him. "So just why  _are_  you here? Not for me, I hope. Couldn't you have gotten blown up on some ship and spared us this?"

Anna clenched her fists, looking back at Carth for guidance. She'd never seen him speechless before, but he seemed to recover quickly.

"What are . . . Dustil, I thought you were  _dead_! I didn't know until I ran into Jordo—"

"Ahh. Too bad that didn't change. Or did you  _really_  think I'd want to see you?" He threw up his hands. "Look! It's Father, here to rescue me at long last! Sure he left my mother and I to die but _that_  doesn't matter!"

"I think  _that_  was a little-" Anna started.

"It wasn't my fault, Dustil, we got there too late — Telos was already in ruins, and your mother . . . I swear I looked for you everywh—"

"I don't — I don't  _care_!" Anna caught the flicker in his voice, her heart missing a beat. He wasn't going to call the guards — something was still there. She could still reverse everything. She just had to try. "You were gone during the Wars, and you didn't stay even when you  _did_  come back."

"I didn't have a choice! I was needed, I—"

"You were needed at home too! You were needed when the bombing started and I got captured and —"

"Can we just—" Anna tried to interject when Dustil's voice started to rise.

"You know, it doesn't matter. I have a family now. That cares about me. I don't need you."

"You can't mean the Sith?! No, Dustil, they killed your mother! They destroyed Telos!"

"So? You're the soldier, father. How many mothers have you killed?"

"That's  _enough_." Anna took a step forward. Carth looked at her helplessly.

"Anna, he's been brainwashed, the —"

"You  _never_ knew me! You weren't even  _there_  so don't think you know what I would or wouldn't do!"

"Stop!" She hissed again.

Carth straightened up, and Anna recognized the voice of a frustrated parent. "I don't know what's been done to you, but we're leaving. Now."

Dustil reeled back, nearly falling back onto his bed. "Touch me, old man, and I'll kill you. Get out! Get out of here before I tell the Sith you're here!"

"Anna—"

"Oh for . . ." Anna held out both of her hands. Dustil froze in place, shock coloring his face.

"Anna." Carth grabbed her arm. "You did  _not_  just use the Force on my son."

"Yes I did. And I'll use it on you if you don't calm down." Carth opened his mouth to argue, but she'd turned back. "Now if he's been getting trained he's already working his way out of it, so we only have a few minutes at the most. Now, Dustil, your father is only trying to protect you. You need to calm down. I know where you're coming from. Or . . . well actually I don't, so I won't pretend to."

"And who are you?" Dustil spat. "Some schutta he's moved on to?"

"Du—"

Anna held up her hand. "Carth, it's fine. No, I'm not. But—"

"And either way the Sith give me everything I need. I—"

"You can't mean that! The Sith are . . . they're  _evil_. They took me away from you and your mother. They're — they're what took you from  _me_ , Dustil!" Anna gently rested a hand on his arm when his voice broke. Dustil seemed to wince.

"They're not!" he protested. "The dark side is superior, and you-you were at war long before they came along!"

"The Sith want to conquer, to rule the helpless. I went to war to save  _you_ , Dustil. For your future, your freedom."

"Heh." He shook his head as he continued to worm his way out of the stasis. "I don't believe you."

"If I failed you, it's my fault. Don't add to it by becoming a part of something evil."

Anna cleared her throat. "What he says is true, Dustil. Even since the beginning of our mission they've destroyed another planet, and they're looking to destroy more. Malak will see the Core Worlds in ruins no matter how many he must sacrifice to do so. Even you have to understand this. And if you're anything like your father, that can't sit well with you."

"Prove it," he said, as a challenge. "Prove they're evil and I'll . . . I'll think about it."

"Done," Anna said without hesitation. Carth just looked at her. "And you'll keep our presence quiet for now?"

He nodded curtly.

"Good. Thank you." Anna turned on her heel and walked off. "Come along," she barked, voice raising again. Carth cast one look back at his son before following her.

"Anna, please tell me you have a plan."

"I have enough of one, but we won't be able to do anything until tomorrow." She looked back at him. "If there's any records of the Academy's dealings, they'll be in Uthar's quarters.

#

Anna collapsed on the bed in her assigned quarters, burying her face in the pillow.

It had only been her first day in the academy, but that was enough. The Sith code was written in a datapad nearby for quick transfer to her hand when she had to give the head of the academy her report. She wasn't going to try and memorize that.

With a heavy sigh, she kicked off her boots and tucked her legs up under her, shedding her dark black robe top for her long-sleeved undershirt. It was hard — almost impossible — for her to center herself here: a simple meditation felt like she would be sucked into the abyss that lurked just on the edge of her consciousness, daring her to take a step out . . .

She closed her eyes, gripping her feet tight with her hands as she forced herself to focus on her heartbeat, then into the Force. She was still rough at this, and it would have been nice to have Bastila around to at least bark at her when she was doing it wrong.

She wondered how Bastila was doing, trapped on the  _Hawk_  with Canderous and Juhani. It would essentially be her and Carth and HK this entire mission — it made her wary, and she could only hope the Cathar and the Mandalorian had relaxed enough to avoid her needing to scrub blood off the floors again.

Dimly, Anna sensed Carth reenter the room. He had been pacing just outside, and she knew he was worried about his son. Dustil was stubborn, and it didn't take a genius to know where he got it from. She knew Carth was likely chafing at the collar to go and demand that his son listen to him. She had to play  _that_  carefully because if she didn't —

 _You'll lose a valuable asset_ , a cold, quiet voice whispered in the back of her mind.

With that, her concentration wavered slightly, and she snapped out of her meditation with a gasp. Carth's head jerked up from where he had been attempting to pry off his own boots.

"Anna?"

She took a deep breath. "I-I'm fine. But I-I think that's enough of that." Anna swallowed heavily, glancing up as HK's red head spun around slightly to regard her. The voice had to have been her imagination, a byproduct of the dark side energy swirling around her. She loved her friends — even Canderous had grown on her. She would never be able to just consider them  _assets_ —

— even if she had when this whole thing had started out.

Anna threw herself down on the bed, rolling onto her side and tucking her legs up as she jerked the thin sheet to her shoulders. She could literally  _feel_  the worried look Carth was delivering her back, but ignored it and tucked herself into a smaller ball. He wouldn't understand. And if she told him, he would demand they leave and go back to the  _Hawk_ for the night and not because something had happened to her, but because if anything did happen he would want her to be around three other Jedi . . .

Her head finally cleared with the silence, and she slowly lifted it. Carth was laying out a bedroll he'd brought with him from the ship on the floor, just next to the footlocker at the end of the bed. He had stripped off his jacket and settled himself down as she watched. Anna cleared her throat. "Carth."

"Hm?"

"You . . . you don't need to sleep on the floor." Carth's head jerked up. "Come on. It's freezing in here. And besides, I need you at your best, which you won't be if you sleep on the floor. It can't be comfortable. And don't get me started on you freezing to death."

Carth sighed, resting his hand on the stone floor. There was little doubt that the bed  _would_  be more comfortable than the hard floor, and it was large enough that they'd probably be able to avoid even touching one another all night (with Anna's small stature, at least). He just . . . "I'll be fine. Besides, aren't I supposed to be your slave while we're here?"

"If that were the case," she replied, smirking. "Then I'd keep the entire damn academy up all night." Her voice had dropped to a low pitch, and he felt himself flushing despite himself. "But, I'm serious."

"Anna, I'll be  _fine_."

"Carth . . ." Anna replied with an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Have a good night. Don't freeze to death." With that, she dropped back down to the mattress and rolled back onto her side. "Turn off the lights when you're done."

Carth finished rolling his bedroll and went to turn off the light-piece, glancing at the bed as he did. Whether or not she was asleep he didn't know, but her arms were wrapped around herself and small shivers ran down her body. All the apprentices were given were thin sheets, expected to "tough it out." For someone as bulky as a large number of the Sith, it wouldn't have been that big of a problem (that and, from the noises coming from some of the other open-door rooms, they tended to bunk together anyway). But Anna had almost no bulk on her, and the cold air was enough to even make him shudder.

With a heavy sigh, he slid onto the bed and reached for the light-piece, turning it off. With a quick glance at his partner, he rolled onto his side so he faced away from her and slowly fell asleep.

Anna was a light sleeper, and this was no different. So she wasn't surprised to wake up a few hours into sleeping, her senses dimmed from sleep. She shifted slightly to check her chrono, and stopped dead.

At some point, Carth had slung his his arm over her waist, pressing her close against his chest. He was dead asleep, breath slow and warm on the back of her neck. Part of her thought she should  _probably_  extract herself and gently nudge him over onto his back, and go back to sleep - but the other part thought it felt kind of nice. She finally opted to carefully check her chrono and let herself slide back into sleep, after checking to make sure that HK was still guarding the opening to her alcove.

A couple hours later it was Carth who awoke. The air inside the Sith academy was tingling on his skin, making him uncomfortable. He could only imagine what it did to Anna -

Oh.

Carth froze in place. Anna was snuggled back against his chest, his arm wrapped around her waist and holding her against him. He hadn't — oh  _stars_  he hadn't . . . Carth carefully backed away, watching as Anna tucked her knees up and curled into herself with the lack of warmth at her back and, for a second, he almost felt bad about it. But he moved back to his side of the bedp, though it took far too long for him to fall back to sleep.

#

:: _The newest class of Sith students looks excellent,_ :: Uthar reported. :: _There is another fallen Jedi here. I suspect she will be the one who moves on first from the newest collection_.::

"This is good, Uthar," Malak replied, looking through the information he'd sent him. "The Jedi are taking a toll on our numbers — we must continue to take a toll on their numbers as well. You have more information on this Jedi?"

:: _She was apparently trained in the Enclave on Dantooine, under Zhar_.::

"She?"

:: _Yes. She reported that her name was Anna Galon. However, we have not heard of a Jedi of that name. It is possible that she is a —_ ::

Malak did not hear whatever she might be. His breath caught in his half-destroyed throat, eyes narrowing around his mechanical jaw. Anna Galon. The pseudonym  _she_  had used on Taris.

She. His former Master. Revanna Galon. The Revanchist.  _Revan_.

:: _. . . Lord Malak?_ ::

He realized he hadn't been speaking while Uthar had raved about the new recruit's prowess with the Force (yes, of course  _she_ would still be strong) and his belief in her potential (yes, of  _course_  she had great potential, after what she had been). Malak nodded.

"Yes. Excellent, Uthar. I will be sending Bandon shortly to check on the recruits' progress."

The shock showed on Uthar's face, though it was obvious that he was trying to hide it. :: _Bandon, my lord? Is our progress not satisfactory?_ ::

"It is. I wish to gain a more . . . personal view of these recruits. Perhaps we can weed out some of those who are unable to move on."

:: _. . . Yes, Lord Malak. I will have the proper preparations made._ ::

"I would expect nothing less. And my progress reports are to remain unchanged."

:: _Of course, my lord._ :: Uthar nodded, and Malak flicked off the holocommunicator before opening the shipboard intercom.

"Bandon. Report to my quarters."

:: _Immediately, Lord Malak._ ::

In a matter of minutes Bandon had arrived, bowing to Malak's back. He had begun to pace in front of his terminal, arms folded behind his back. "You summoned me?"

"Yes," Malak said simply. "You are to perform an inspection of of the Academy on Korriban. There is . . . one student you are to focus on."

Bandon nodded.

"This is where I must inform you of certain . . . stumbling blocks . . . to your progress," he explained. "The student who you will be investigating is going by  _Anna Galon._  That is not her real identity. She is a Jedi."

"You are sure, my lord?"

"She is the same woman who escaped Taris with Bastila."

Bandon merely nodded. That had been a matter of weeks before he had been promoted to Malak's apprentice, second in command of the Sith fleet. He only knew of Malak's bad temper after the  _Ebon Hawk_ had dropped off their scanners.

"That woman," Malak continued, turning. "Is my former master."

Bandon blinked, a puzzled look crossing his face. "Your former master—"

"Revan!" Malak barked. "Yes, the woman I left for dead after firing on her ship. She survived and I need you to determine why. I need you to determine what she is doing on Korriban, and stop her there."

Bandon pursed his lips slightly. "You suspect that—"

"Revan will be less powerful on Korriban, if she has reverted to the light side of the Force. It will be a difficult fight, but . . . she will likely rely more on her lightsabers, as using the Force will fatigue her greatly." He motioned to a chair. "Sit. There is much to discuss."


	32. Chapter 32

Anna reported to Uthar first thing in the morning, perfectly reciting the Sith code (with input from her hand) and being promptly hailed as the first new Sith to gain prestige. While this earned her the ire of many of the students, most of them were too busy training or pretending to be exploring the valley's tombs while, in actuality, they were standing around talking to the archaeologists. After her report she'd gone for evaluation, of course passing with flying colors, and been released for the day.

"All right," she said as she and Carth hurried down the cells towards Uthar's chambers, her hands tight on her stealth generator. "You need to stay out at the corner and keep watch. Just . . . fly casual." He shook his head as she stopped. "I'll head down to his room and look for something to prove our claims and you need to tell me if he's coming down."

"And what happens if we're discovered?"

She glanced back at him. "I haven't thought that far ahead. I'll come up with something."

He sighed as he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and ducking his head as Anna slipped by, shimmering out of existence as she activated her generator.

Anna quickly sliced the lock on Uthar's door, the apparatus far simpler than she'd expected, and quietly moved into his quarters. They were not as opulant as she'd expected, comfortably furnished and noticeably (and artificially) kept warm. "Why do we always go to the  _cold_  planets," she murmured, ruffling through his clothes. Nothing. The nightstand by his bed was the next item ravaged, also yielding nothing, as was the footlocker at the end of his bed. She frowned at his desk, then tapped it. The desk was protected by a code-lock, but she managed to open it  _very_  carefully. There was a stack of datapads in drawer, each labeled with a student's name. She searched out Dustin's and switched it on, eyes lighting up as she read.

Perfect.

:: _Anna!_ ::

She swore and relocked the desk, mind spinning. "What?"

:: _Abort! Uthar at end of hallway. Get out now!_ ::

She grabbed one of Uthar's many heavy cloaks as she rushed out the door, locking it behind her. Carth grabbed her and pulled her into the cell across the way, giving her only seconds to spot Uthar and Yuthura, deep in conversation, coming down the hallway towards his quarters.

"How long?" she asked. "Think we can get out?"

He shook his head. "Fifteen seconds, at the most. No."

"All right. Go with it." She swung the cloak, hood up, around him, and as he opened his mouth to question her she pulled his head to hers and kissed him hard.

Part of him, as he pressed her back against the wall at her own urging, realized what she was doing. They were in a Sith academy — who wouldn't expect the mostly teenaged recruits to have stolen off to corners with one another? The fact that neither of them were teenagers didn't matter — he doubted anyone would look closely with the large cloak in place. The rest of him screamed in surprise and the smallest hint of actually  _wanting_  this, distracting him from what her plan was as he cupped her face in his hands, meeting her completely. He forgot for a moment why they'd ended up in this position until Anna pulled away and looked back down the hallway, leaving him slack-jawed and staring at her. "It's clear."

"Huh?" he asked.

She looked back at him, clearly believing him stupid if her face were any judge. "Uh, Uthar, back to my quarters before they come back, saving your son . . ."

"Oh, right." He snapped himself out of his reverie to follow her as he shucked the cloak, hurrying back to her cell while trying to not appear rushed.

They waited until that night, Anna meditating quietly for most of the day, returning to Dustil as most recruits were preparing to bunk down with one another. He skimmed the datapad, then read it, then thrust it back at them, wide-eyed.

"No!" He said. "No, I . . . I won't believe it."

"Dustil,  _please_ —" Carth started, but Anna had already bristled and stepped forward.

" _That_  is the Sith!" she hissed, pointing at the datapad. "Victory at any cost —  _every_  cost! Power over anyone else's needs! Take what you want when you want — you have the power, and if someone else is unable to resist than it's on  _their_  heads! I watched Taris fall around me because Malak couldn't have what he wanted — Bastila Shan in chains at his feet! Your father watched  _your_ homeworld fall because Malak wanted to test an  _admiral_! I've  _seen_  what the Sith do and what the Sith look like, Dustil — this is _nothing_! This academy shows you  _nothing_  of what is truly raging outside these walls! So you can either believe that I fabricated that datapad or that I truly risked my  _life_  because I believe you're in grave danger — and that's the decision you need to make. Right here, right now, you need to decide what you think is more important — attempting to rise to absolute power in an order that will more likely get you killed, or a return of peace and stability to the galaxy. So what is it?"

Carth and Dustil both stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Well?"

He blinked. "O-okay." He looked down at the datapad again. "I just . . . I can't believe he killed her. Because she was impeding me. She  _convinced_  me to come here. I—"

"That's what the Sith rely on," Anna replied gently. "That good people can't believe."

"Will you leave?" Carth asked.

"No," Dustil replied. "No. I still have friends here. I can convince them . . . And perhaps we can even pass on information to the Republic. Maybe . . . Maybe we can end this."

Anna glanced at Carth. A small, almost proud looking smile had crossed his face.

"And . . . Maybe we can meet up again, after all this is over," he continued, looking at Carth. "I —"

"I'm sorry," he replied sadly. "I really am, Dustil. I should have done more to protect you."

"There's nothing you could have done." Dustil shook his head, clenching the datapad. "There's nothing anyone could have."

#

Anna flew through her first week, passing the entry training in a matter of days and placing her in the same class as the Sith recruits they'd run into in Dreshdae. By the end of that week she was cleared for going into the valley, had freed a Mandalorian prisoner,  _and_  had secured the only spot on Yuthura's Trusted Friend list. Carth had gotten used to waking up with either her wrapped around him, clinging to his warmth or him wrapped around her, clinging to her companionship. She hadn't been having an easy time, the energy giving her headaches and horrific nightmares that she claimed she didn't remember, though he didn't know if that was the case or if she just didn't want to tell him. She was tired, cranky, and snappy, the wear beginning to show in the circles under her eyes and the way she'd started to fall asleep in the Sith library.

But it was the end of that first week when they could have lost everything very easily.

Uthar had interrupted "morning meditations," which seemed to really be an excuse for everyone to sleep in rather than get woken up and badgered until they meditated as it had been in the Enclave, to make an announcement in the central hall. Anna hovered near the back, Carth over her shoulder, as Uthar and a tall, bald man in black robes entered. Uthar stepped to the front of the room.

"Students," he said loudly, silencing the chatter. Anna glanced at Carth, only to see that he'd gone white. "We welcome Lord Bandon here on official business from Lord Malak himself. He has been sent to examine your progress and suitability. He will be speaking to each of you in private over the next several days and he is to be accorded every hospitality. That is all, you may carry on."

Anna looked back at Carth. "You all right?" she hissed.

"That's Malak's newest apprentice," Carth replied, tone low. "Anna—"

"He must know we're here," she said quietly. "This is wonderful."

"How long—"

She shook her head. "I suspect we'll be speaking shortly. I—"

A throat cleared. Anna jerked her head back to look up at Bandon, standing directly in front of her.

"Uthar has recommending I speak with you first," he said, in a voice that was a bit raspy and completely dripping with pretentiousness. "Come with me."

She turned back to Carth with a curt nod. "Return to my quarters," she ordered. "And shine your armor. I look to be in the valley by tomorrow."

"Yes, master." Carth ducked his head and hurried off, casting one glance back as Anna calmly followed Bandon towards the library.

This was  _not_  good.

#

"Bored, bored, bored, bored  _bored_ ," Mission murmured, shuffling her pazaak deck for the fiftieth time. Zaalbar grunted from across the table. "Bored, bored,  _bored_. How are you  _not_  bored?"

He shrugged. " _I keep myself busy._ "

"How many grenades have you made?"

" _Thirty-seven._ "

Mission shook her head, head-tails waving. "Too bad you can't make thermal detonators or anything. We'd make a fortune."

Canderous tromped into the hold, T3 following him and chirping wildly. "No, you do  _not_  need to work on the bike!" the Mandalorian snapped. "I am  _perfectly_  capable of fixing it without  _your_  help!"

T3 chirped. :: _Didn't look like it._ ::

"Don't give me that shit," Canderous threatened, digging in a cabinet for one of the bottles of alcohol the ship had been stocked with. Jolee looked at him disapprovingly from where he was messing with the synthesizer.

"T3, you can help me out here," Jolee said. "Don't worry about the big old mean man."

"Don't start with me, old man," he replied, straightening with a bottle of an amber liquid in hand before storming back out towards the bike. T3 chirped in gratitude and pried off a panel.

"I have  _had_  it with these gizka!" Bastila was the next to storm in, dropping down at the table next to Mission. "The damnable creatures just will  _not_ leave anyone alone!" True enough, the sole "friendly" gizka that had taken a liking to Anna jumped in Bastila's lap, cooing and bumping its nubbly head against her hand. She  _humph_ ed and pushed it away from her. It replied with a dissatisfied squeak and curled up by Mission's hip, the Twi'lek reaching out to scratch its head. The center console chirped with an incoming message, and Bastila slammed her hand into the button to open the comm.

"This is the  _Ebon Hawk_."

:: _Bastila_!:: Carth sounded panicked through the comm, words hushed and hurried. :: _We've got a_ major _problem! We—_ ::

"Slow down," Jolee said, leaning on the table. "What's going on?"

:: _Bandon, Malak's newest apprentice? He's here. Some sort of surprise inspection. He's talking to Anna right now. I don't know if they know we're here or if someone tipped them off or what but —_ ::

"Calm down, Carth," Jolee interrupted, with a glance at Bastila. She'd gone white. "I'm sure it's a routine inspection."

:: _Yeah, I hope so. Still might want to alert people._ ::

Bastila nodded. "I'll let the Jedi know." She stood and hurried to the communications room, eyes wide. This wasn't good. Bandon — she had little doubt that Malak had warned him about who Anna was — could possibly tell Anna, or somehow tip her off, and it would end badly for everyone.

She toyed with the idea of comming Carth back and telling him, warning him that they could possibly have a triumphant Sith Lord on their hands shortly, but as her hand reached for the long-distance comm link to the Jedi she shook her head. Malak wouldn't show his hand so quickly.

Would he?

#

Anna tried not to seem nervous as Bandon lead her into a private office in the Korriban library, when in actuality she had to wrap her hands in her robe to keep them from trembling. He motioned for her to sit down across the desk while he sank down behind it, skimming a datapad for several moments. Anna struggled not to fidget in her chair, eyes watching the Sith for any sign of attack. He finally looked back at her.

"Anna Galon, is it?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Former Jedi, trained on Dantooine under Zhar."

"Yes."

"Funny," Bandon said. "Zhar was on Coruscant until very recently."

Anna didn't react.

"Why are you here, prospective?"

"Are we speaking in a 'why am I on Korriban' sense, or a philosophical sense?" Bandon glared at her. "I want to be a Sith, as do most of the other recruits here."

"No ulterior motives?"

"None whatsoever."

"None whatsoever,  _sir_."

"You really don't have to defer to me. You're Lord Malak's apprentice, after all."

Bandon was obviously not sure how to reply, probably not having expected someone to speak back to him in such a manner, and rather than answer looked back at his datapad. "And you believe you are qualified to join the Sith?"

"I obviously am. I'm here, aren't I?"

"What if," he started, leaning forward on the table. "I were to tell you that I believed you were a Jedi sent to spy on us."

"I'd say that I thought you were insane," she replied. "With all due respect, of course. A Jedi would need to be insane to come here for that purpose." Anna shrugged. "I would also ask if you had any proof of your assertion."

"I am Lord Malak's apprentice," Bandon replied. "I do not need proof." He straightened. "Well this has been a fun little chat. I'm sure we will see each other again very soon."

"I'm sure," Anna replied, standing. Her heart wanted to race — she forced it still. She still didn't necessarily buy into the Jedi's strict forbidding of emotions, but she knew damn well that fear made people stupid, and that stupid people made stupid mistakes. "And I look forward to it.  _Sir._ "

#

Bandon's visit mostly delayed expeditions into the valley for the next week as he went through the student body, killed a few, and kept a close eye on Anna, and generally disrupted the entire system of the academy.

So when Anna finally prepared to enter the valley she had even less time than she'd wanted, allocating at least one day to each tomb and more to the valley as a whole. She wanted to hit Uthar with as much "prestige" as she could.

"The shyrack caves are a short hike," she said finally, as she and Carth packed up whatever they needed into the knapsack. "There's some students we should be able to send back to the  _Hawk_  and they can run them off to Dantooine. Should net me some prestige too. The Valley's a further walk, we may end up camping out there a couple times." They checked to make sure that they'd left nothing incriminating for Bandon to find, and she motioned to HK as they left the room. The droid, having been little more than an exalted doorguard for the past two weeks, happily followed them.

They made it to the back door and opened it, Anna letting her head fall back as the warm sunlight slammed into her face. Kashyyyk was an arid planet, hot and rocky and with little vegetation and rainfall, and yet the Academy was  _freezing_.

The shyrack caves were just a short hike down the canyon, the gaping hole smelling strongly of decomposition and musky animal droppings. The beating of wings and the howls of tuk'ata whirled out of the cave.

"Well, this is it."

HK checked his gun. "Statement: Master, you take me to the nicest places."

She motioned. "Go on then. Don't shoot anything humanoid  _just_  yet though."

"Statement: With abject pleasure, master." He raised his gun and stalked into the cave, blaster fire immediately sounding.

"Shall we?" Anna asked. Carth nodded.

"I could use something to kill," he replied.

They stepped inside, the trio cutting a swath through the animals inside with the ease of practice. But as they walked into one cave, not far from the entrance, she stopped dead and threw out her arm.

"I knew who you were," Bandon said, lightsaber held ready. "Malak informed me before I even arrived here. You may have bested the pathetic bounty hunter he sent after you, but you are no match for me. Not here."

Anna cleared her throat. "Ah, so we've dropped all the pretenses now, have we?" He was flanked by two apprentices — behind her back she motioned to each of them, hoping HK and Carth got the message. "Yes, I killed Calo Nord, and I really doubt you're as much of a match as you believe yourself to be."

"He warned me that you would be cocky. I see little has changed." Anna glanced at Carth, who had glanced at her in confusion. How would Malak know? She shook her head. That was neither here nor there — they didn't have time for questions. "You have the opportunity to beg for your life, of course, though I doubt you'll take it."

Anna ignited her lightsabers. "You would be correct."

"Clear!" Carth's arm swung, one of the flashbangs they'd taken from Calo's stash leaving his hand and slamming into the ground at Bandon's feet. HK opened fire, riddling one of the two apprentices with blaster shots; Carth swung his head back and opened fire on his own. Anna took a step forward, meeting Bandon's double bladed saber with both of her own.

He started to draw up a large amount of Force, the telltale sting of a drain singeing her nostrils. She drew up her own shield, one that Bastila had taught her to use in the case of fighting another Force-user, protecting from having their connection slowly cut off during a fight. He snarled and she swung again, flurrying her blades in a rapid pattern and scoring a strike across his thighs.

 _Parry on-hand, swing off._ She did, blocking one end of the double blade and slicing across Bandon's arm with the other. He hissed when it landed, then swung back.  _Dodge, roll, block, two._  She dodged his blade, rolling to the side to avoid the second half, then blocked the first as he spun it to hit her, bringing her on-hand saber up low and forcing him to parry lower than would be comfortable.

Then, he reached past her, picked up Carth in the Force, and slammed him back into a wall.

Anna took a deep breath, rage cutting through her as she watched Carth slide down the wall limply, slumping at the bottom unconsciously. But she knew blind rage wouldn't help her, and spun back with her blades ready.

HK was still up, and that droid was vastly superior to Bandon and his apprentices.

Bandon grinned ferally and struck out again.  _Parry, dual strike, flurry, push, dodge, kick, roll._

She parried, knocking Bandon's blade aside, dealing dual strikes across his chest. One landed; she brought the blades back in a quick, swinging flurry that he struggled to block. A push in the Force knocked him back, just a stagger but enough that it forced him to lunge back at her in order to regain his balance. She dodged that, jumping back and arching so that both ends of his lightsaber barely missed her. She kicked out, hitting him in the knee and snapping it back with a crack that made him stagger, rolling to avoid his return strike.

A return strike that enabled her to come back up behind his blades, slamming the top of her head into his face. He moved an arm with the clear intent of stabbing her with just as much of the blade as he could, and she ducked under his arm and slammed her leg into the back of his knees. He staggered, already weak in the knee she'd cracked, and he lost his balance on the slightly sloping cave and crashed to the floor. Anna swept both of her sabers up and then down, smoothly decapitating him through the only weak point in his armor.

She leaned back to catch her breath as HK stalked up. "Query: Mas—"

Anna ignored him, hurrying over to drop next to Carth. She pressed her fingers to his neck, worriedly skimming his face. Blood trickled from a small wound at the back of his head, but his pulse was strong. She moved her fingers to the wound, gently knitting his skin back together with the Force, probing it to look for any more damage. There didn't appear to be anything, so she gave him the smallest nudge — as Jolee had showed her — to urge him back to consciousness.

Carth's eyes flickered, and he started to move. "Easy," Anna said. "You took a bad hit. In the fight with Bandon. Just now."

"You all right?"

She nodded. "Fine." He winced, trying to move. "No, no, stay still."

He met her eyes and gently reached out, running a finger along her cheek. "I didn't get to help."

"No. You did. You took down one of the apprentices." She didn't tell him that HK had done most of the work, but that was primarily because he'd otherwise do something stupid the next time they were up against someone with a name. "There isn't much you would have been able to do against Bandon anyway."

"Could have tried."

"Carth. Stop. I'm just glad you're all right."

He grinned, still looking a little dazed. She hugged him, closing her eyes as she buried her face in the side of his neck. "I'm just glad you're all right," she repeated.


	33. Chapter 33

_-Two days later-_

Carth blinked as he slowly felt  _some_  sense returning to him. He was frozen, fingers and feet tingling and ears ringing. He was on the floor, breathing heavily, gasping air back into his lungs. His head rolled to the side.

One of the other Sith students — Mikal? Michael? He couldn't remember — was collapsed against a pillar, grasping at his side. Anna was on her hands and knees, panting and disheveled. He tried to call her, reach out towards her, but she looked up and met his eyes and shook her head. He jerked his head over, seeing HK limp against another pillar, eyes dark. He wouldn't be able to be reactivate the droid, not in a hurry.

In front of Anna was a man in a Sith uniform, grip tight around what looked like a double-bladed lightsaber. He was hunched, pale, and even from the back Carth thought he looked insane.

"I won't," Anna murmured, trying to push herself off the floor. "I won't play your game."

"I don't remember that being a choice. You can refuse of course, but I'll have to assume the worst."

What would 'the worst' be? And hearing him speak had not helped that previous assumption about the man's mental stability.

"So, I'll pose a moral question to you." He rubbed his hands together. "Get it right, and I'll torture Mekel. Get it wrong, and I torture  _you_."

Carth's breath caught in his throat. No. No no and no. Anna wouldn't go for this, no matter how much the energy and his own wishes weighed on her.

"Mekel is a bit weak — I doubt he'll last much longer. Mind you, if you get many wrong, you'll likely die too. You don't seem that strong yourself. But maybe you don't like Mekel. Maybe you think he deserves it? I know how you trainees are! This is your chance — seize it!"

"Go to hell," Anna murmured, trying to lever herself to her feet. Mekel breathed heavily against his pillar, regarding Anna with outright suspicion. "What if he dies?"

"Then you win. If you die, he wins. I thought this was obvious. Did you not get it earlier?"

"I needed some repeating," she snapped, arms wobbling. Carth was awake. Damn it. She didn't want him to see this. "Your nerve gas causes problems."

He ignored her. "Any last comments before we begin, Mekel?"

"We can . . . take him . . ." Mekel breathed, gasping for air. "Just . . . have to survive."

"Oh, that's surprisingly ambitious. Do you really think your friend here will answer questions wrong just to save you? I doubt it, elsewise why would she be in the Sith?"

"Maybe I'm a plant," Anna hissed, still struggling to push herself to her feet. "Maybe I'm just spying for the Jedi."

"Ha! I doubt that. Now . . ." He cracked his fingers. "Let's begin. I'll start off easy, I think."

Carth struggled to move. No. No, this couldn't happen.

"Your immediate superior in the Sith is an effective commander and fine leader. He trusts you and you like him well enough. You get the opportunity to kill him. What do you do?"

"I tell you," Anna hissed. "To have inappropriate relations with a rancor."

"Oh? I'm supposed to find your lip amusing? Well, it's time for your punishment."

Anna clenched at the floor. Carth watched helplessly as the man arched his hand, lightning suddenly spewing out of his fingers and dancing into her. A shrill cry left her as she dropped down to her elbows, head bowing into her chest. Mekel closed his eyes and looked away; Carth grit his teeth and struggled to move even harder. He wouldn't let this happen.  _He wouldn't_.

"And now we come to round two." Anna tried to pull herself up again, panting. "You come across a group of humans threatened by dangerous animals. They plead for help, offering you a reward. What do you do?"

"I tell you that Hutts are good in bed and you should look into it."

Mekel winced and looked away again. Anna grit her teeth. Carth felt feeling flood his body, fueled partially by rage and partially by necessity. He couldn't let her suffer.

"No, no no no no. I'm beginning to think you weren't listening at all. Either way . . . Time for you to learn your lesson." His hand arched again.

This time, Carth ignored her shriek, pushing himself to his hands and feet and catching his breath. He panted, eyes squeezed shut.

"Let's see . . . ah yes. You discover an ancient aspect of the Force that gives you great power. Do you share it and strengthen the whole, or keep it to yourself?"

"I tell you to shove it up your ass," she replied, voice hoarse. Blood was trickling out of her nose; every cell felt as if it were on fire.

"And here I thought this was an easy one. It's for your own good, you know."

Carth stumbled to his feet, fueled this time by Anna's scream as she collapsed onto the floor and curled into a ball under the onslaught of the lightning. He fumbled with his blaster, working it out of its holster.  _We'll do the tomb on the far right of the valley, she said_ , he thought, checking the power cell.  _It shouldn't be too difficult, she said. Instead we wind up with the crazy guy with lightning coming out of his fingers._

"Still going? I'm surprised. All right then. One of your underlings has made a major mistake that makes you look bad. He is normally competent and skilled. Do you kill him, or give him another chance?"

"I tell you to go to hell." It was bad. Her retorts were becoming less and less inappropriate.

"You're not trying to make me angry, are you? Is this so hard?!" He sighed. "Not that good help is easy to find. Oh, well, here's your reward."

He arched his hand and Carth stumbled forward, pointedly avoiding looking at the woman writhing on the ground in front of the madman. His knuckles were white on his gun, and he braced himself.

"Last question! You're about to die. Do you pass on your knowledge to your apprentice or do you use your last breath to strike at your enemies?"

"I won't give you the satisfaction of an answer," she hissed, her eyes clenched shut. Very bad — she wasn't even  _trying_ now. Carth took a deep breath and raised his blaster inches from the man's head. He finally seemed to sense him, and began to turn.

He fired.

The man dropped to the floor, dead nearly instantly as the round slammed straight through his brain. Mekel released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Anna looked up weakly as Carth stumbled to his knees next to her.

"Are you all right?" he murmured, carefully dabbing at the blood under her nose. She nodded, uncoiling herself as if every movement ached.

"Yeah. Are you all right?"

"Better now." He helped her sit up, bracing her back against a pillar. "Anna . . ."

"Thanks," she murmured. "I don't know if I'd've made it out of that last one."

"You shouldn't do that," he said quietly, carefully wiping the blood off her face before handing her a kolto pack. "Dab this up there."

"I can just . . ." She closed her eyes, then frowned. "Hand it over."

He did, and she carefully rubbed it along the inside of her nostrils. Small, angry red flecks had shown up along her skin, probably where the lightning had flown into her. "Check on Mekel." She nodded. "I just . . . need a moment."

Carth nodded and moved over to the other man, probably no more than sixteen. His son's age. "You all right?"

Mekel nodded, still holding his side. "I'll be fine. Uln was having a hell of a time with us." He looked over at Anna. "Why didn't you let him to kill me? You let him torture you to save me."

She nodded, head still leaning back against the pillar and her eyes slitted. "I wasn't going to let him kill you."

"You . . . aren't really a Sith, are you?" Carth froze, his hand dropping to his gun as he looked back at Anna. She merely shook her head.

"I'm here for one thing," she said. "And it's in the tomb of Naga Sadow."

Mekel nodded. "Yeah. I . . . maybe I don't belong here. I . . . with what you said to me outside the Academy, and what you just did here — you don't even like me, and you were ready to die for me. I . . ."

"Maybe you should head for Dantooine or Coruscant. Check in with the Jedi." She nodded. "You were ready to attack him as soon as you gathered your strength. To free both of us, yes, but that is the sort of umph we could use."

He managed to climb to his feet. "Yeah. I think I see what you mean. I'll . . . I'll look for transit off this planet. I don't think I'm cut out for the Sith . . . Not sure I am for the Jedi either." Mekel nodded. "Thank you. I . . . just, thank you."

He limped off, and Carth returned to Anna's side. She'd let her head fall to the side, eyes closed. "Where's HK?"

"Deactivated. Just over there. He'll be fine."

"Good." She opened her eyes when she felt him draw her face back towards his, taking in the worried scrunch of his brow and the frown drawing down his face. "Carth, I'm  _fine_."

"Anna . . . don't do that to me again." He cupped her face in his hands. "If he'd killed you, I . . ."

"I'm stronger than that, Carth." She smiled weakly. "Let me up. I need to turn HK back on."

Carth echoed her weak smile, then before he could stop himself leaned in to kiss her.

It was mostly fueled by relief, a soft pushing together of lips because he couldn't phrase how concerned he'd been, how afraid for her when Uln was torturing her. She froze for a second, a surprised  _mph_  escaping her before she reached forward to grip his chestplate and hold him to her, clinging to him to transmit all of her own fear and pain through that one simple motion.

He pulled back, and fear knotted his gut. What the hell did he just do? What was she going to say?  _Shit, Onasi_ ,  _abort, abort, retreat, time to play it cool —_

"Well," Anna said, her weak smile already something stronger. "I should get HK on his feet, and then I want to go back to the Academy and sleep this off."

"You got it," he replied, standing up and holding out his hand. Anna carefully took it, letting him pull her to her feet. She squeezed his hand, grinning at him before silently walking towards HK.

Carth swallowed, rubbing the back of his neck.

What the hell just happened?

#

Anna turned back from Uthar, still looking wobbly on her legs. Carth started to reach out and steady her, but she gave him a bold smile and strode towards the exit to Dreshdae.

"Anna—"

"I think I should check on the ship," she said, continuing towards it. He jogged to catch up with her, HK keeping pace behind him.

"Are you all right?"

She nodded as they stepped into the sunlight, leaving the academy and heading for the outpost. "I just think we should check on the ship."

Even the air inside Dreshdae felt  _strange_ , hot and stale like the air on the entire planet. It'd stopped being so noticeable over time but there were moments — such as this one — where Carth just felt it  _heavy_ on him. Anna was nearly panting next to him, each step seeming like it was harder to take than the last.

She made it to the entrance to the spaceport before collapsing.

Carth caught her as she fell, making sure she didn't hit the floor. She blinked up at him. "Anna—"

"It's from the tomb," she murmured. "Thought I'd be able to make it all the way back for Jolee to help out but I suppose that's not going to happen."

"All right. So you want Jolee to take a look?" She nodded, and Carth slid his arm under her knees and pulled her up against his chest.

"I could probably walk if you gave me the chance," Anna replied, the slightest irritation in her voice.

"Your recent attempts to do so say otherwise," he retorted, starting towards the ship. She sighed, then rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. As he carried her he tried to flick open his comm with his hand, then raised it. "Hail the ship?"

She took it and flicked it on. "This is me, calling the ship."

:: _Hi Anna!_ :: Mission said cheerfully. :: _What's up? Are you okay? You don't sound that good._ ::

"We're coming back to the ship. I had a bit of a run in with some crazy guy in one of the tombs. I need Jolee in medbay."

:: _Okay. And I'll open the ship._ ::

"Thanks." She sighed and closed the comm, folding her hand in her lap. "Thanks, Carth."

"Yeah, I suppose I could have made you try to walk," he replied. She grinned as the ramp to the  _Hawk_  lowered, and opened her eyes to see Jolee at the top.

"What happened?" he asked as Carth started up, closing the ramp as soon as HK was on it.

"We ran into a Sith in one of the tombs," Carth explained. "He knocked us out with some sort of nerve gas, then tortured her."

"What for?"

"I don't know," Carth snapped. "I didn't stop to ask him questions."

"I'd imagine not." Jolee motioned to the cot, and Carth carefully set her down. "What did he use?"

"Lightning," Anna replied when Carth looked to her. "It was something about making me a 'real' Sith and he was going to torture another student if I got questions right so —"

Jolee nodded, rummaging in his cabinet. "So you got them wrong, and he tortured you?"

"Basically."

"All right. Well you'll just really have to sleep it off — it's the only way to recover from that — and I'll do something to treat the contact wounds. Carth, shoo."

"I—"

"Shoo!" Jolee waved him out into the hallway, and closed the door. Anna half-waved after him.

About a half hour later Jolee made his way back into the main hold. Carth had filled everyone in, so they were mostly sitting at the table in the hold waiting. Jolee rubbed his hands on his pants and fetched some water.

"Well?" Bastila finally demanded.

"Calm down, she's fine," Jolee replied. "I wouldn't say that a little force lightning is going to kill her. It could, but he was stopped before any permanent damage was done. Besides. Anna's stronger than she looks." He sat down at the table. "I treated her for the contact burns and gave her something to sleep. She's sleeping it off now."

"So she'll be ok?" Mission asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine, once she wakes up. Good as new." He rested his elbows on the table. "Now go on. Not doing any good sitting around here moping."

Bastila scowled and stood. "I should report this to the Council anyway. They will want to know." She disappeared into the communications room. Canderous shrugged and stood, wandering back to the garage. This was enough for Juhani to leave, returning to the small storage room to meditate, while the others sat at the table. Zaalbar resumed teaching Mission how to craft grenades while Carth and Jolee sat in silence.

"She'll be all right?" he asked, looking for clarification.

"She will. Though I doubt she would have been able to handle much more." Jolee tapped his glass. "How did you manage to—"

"I needed to stop him. I . . ." Carth traced a circle on the tabletop. "He would have killed her if I hadn't."

"Hm." Jolee replied. "I suppose he would have. It's probably best you recovered so quickly. When did she collapse?"

"On our way through Dreshdae. We were almost at the landing pad when she went down."

Jolee nodded. "Well, like I said she'll sleep most of the next day or so. How close are you to being done?"

"Not as close as either of us would like," Carth explained. "She's in the lead for prestige even over recruits who have been there for months, but Uthar is expecting  _so_  much more from her. If we manage to make it out in another week and a half I'll be surprised."

He made a hrmphing noise in reply. "I doubt she'll let that stop her."

Carth shook his head, answering with a half-laugh. "No, she won't."

#

Anna slept for a very long time, nearly two days, then stumbled into the main hold, rummaged for food, and nearly cleaned out the entire kitchen. Jolee shooed her off before the damage to their food stock could become permanent, and that night they returned to the Academy. Carth wasn't sure why, but as he lay awake that night with her curled up against his chest he silently swore to do better next time — or at least not let her walk into a cavern full of toxic nerve gas again.

She slept heavier than usual, somehow sleeping through the night and then waking looking more refreshed than she had for days. He fetched breakfast, as he usually did, and she checked for toxins before they both dug into it ravenously.

"So I'm thinking," she started as they ate, both sitting cross-legged on the bed. "We'll hit that tomb right next to Sadow's. The first one on the left?"

"Mm." Carth swallowed. "What's supposed to be in there?"

"An assassin droid of some sort, I think," she replied. "I don't know. I don't particularly trust Uthar's explanations of things anymore."

"Did you in the beginning?"

She shook her head as she poked around her bowl and shrugged. "Not particularly. I'm an amnesiac, not naive."

"Never said you were."

"So," she started. "Have you talked to Dustil?"

"No. Don't want to put him into danger."

"You really should talk to him though, you know. Maybe . . . arrange a meeting?" She still wasn't quite sure she trusted him, despite the fact that he was Carth's son, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "Maybe in the cantina?"

"Maybe," Carth replied. "We'll see." He set his dishes aside. "I—"

"You know," Anna interrupted. "You've been watching me awfully closely as of late."

"What?!" Carth jumped. "Uh, you've noticed?" He wasn't going to lie to her — he had been after all. "But — it — I-I'm not — I hadn't thought you'd noticed."

"Well," she started. "If you were any more obvious your eyes would have fallen out."

"I'm . . . not  _that_  bad, am I?"

Anna grinned, looking up from her breakfast. "I'm teasing you, Carth."

He shook his head, a grin crossing his own face. "Damn it, woman, if you keep hounding me I'm going to put you over my knee and teach you a lesson."

Her grin grew slightly, tugging at one side of her mouth unevenly. "Is that a promise, flyboy?"

"Ha. I'm not even going there, sister."

"Maybe you should. You're all talk, Carth."

"What would you do if I did? No, wait, don't tell me. I don't want to know." He shook his head and grinned wider. "At any rate I wasn't ogling you. I've just been admiring you. Even here, even exhausted, you have a natural talent that's just incredible. Not that, ah, all I do is watch you or anything. I don't mean anything by it."

"Any other  _important_ observations I should know about?"

He cleared his throat. "Maybe a few, but I hope you're fine with me keeping them to myself. You know."

She laughed. "You have your 'I've been thinking' face on again."

He rubbed his chin. "I do?"

"Yup. Go on." She waved her fork.

"Well . . . we've come a long way, mostly with your help. I don't know where we would have been if you hadn't come along. Whether it's the Force or dumb luck . . . I'm glad you're here. I doubt we would have made it this far without you and . . . I should have said all this before, you know? I just hope you can forgive me for being insufferable."

"Already have, Carth," she replied.

"And you accepted but that doesn't mean I'm forgiven. And I'd like to be."

"Why?"

"Because you're an impressive and beautiful woman and you remind me of my wife in some ways — good ways — and I want to make things right between us."

She grinned, and he did catch the smallest hint of red creeping into her neck. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Uh, I'll take that as a yes?"

She reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Consider yourself forgiven, flyboy. Just work with me for once, all right?"

"You got it." He grinned and gathered up her plate. "I'll take these back and we can get started for the day."

She watched him leave, head cocked to the side and knees drawn up to her chest.  _He has a . . . very nice back. And that area under his back. And . . ._ She shook herself, gathering their gear and then settling herself back down on the bed. Gripping her feet, she attempted to focus herself.

_**Was**  that a promise?_

"That's it." She stood, pacing the room with her hands behind her back, eyes closed. Her mouth moved in the now-familiar mantra of the Jedi code as her hands gripped her robe tightly.

Carth returned, and she all but threw the pack at him and marched out, waving to HK to follow them. He waited until they were out of the Academy, and then hurried to catch up.

"Anna, are you all right?"

"Fine," she mumbled, massaging her temple. "I'm just ready to be off this damn rock."

"Yeah, so am I."

#

Anna motioned for HK and Carth to stop a short distance behind her, focused on muffling their steps through the Force. The tomb had been filled with droids, a datapad near the entry warning about the assassin droid's sensitivity to sound. Most of the Sith recruits had merely opted to try and mow their way through them — a pile was scattered around the door to the main chamber, where she knew the droid would be. She held a finger to her lips, and motioned for HK to have his blaster ready.

Carefully, extending her focus to include the door, she opened it.

A rough looking droid stood in front of them, copper-finished, silent and still in the tomb. "I appreciate your efforts in lowering your sound output, sentient," it addressed them. "I have been unable to turn off my audio receptors since my escape, unfortunately."

"You seem quite polite for an assassin droid," Anna whispered.

"I apologize. An introduction is necessary. I am a Mark-VII experimental prototype assassin droid built by the Sith, specializing in the hunting and extermination of all Jedi." Anna swallowed, a motion Carth didn't miss.

"Analysis: Your model is less than ideal for infiltration and assassination, especially of Jedi meatbags," HK said, though his own vocal output was lowered.

It turned its head from HK back to Anna. "Or so I was. The Sith created me more independent than they'd desired. I learned to appreciate the value of all life."

"Query: That is certainly a poor attribute of an assassin droid. Are you damaged? Is it repairable?"

"Negative. It is a result of my own decision and I would not change my new values if I could."

"Fair enough," Anna said.

"I have escaped from them and hidden in this tomb, constructing droids to aid in my own protection though I did not wish to fight. With your assistance, I may be able to leave permanently."

"All right. So what sort of assistance?"

"My programming is at odds with my new pacifistic desires. I cannot leave with that programming intact, or I do not know what I would do. I would hope that you will operate on my systems and remove those programmed instincts. I could assist you in this."

She held up her hands. "I'm sure it'll be little different from working on my own droid," Anna said calmly. "I'll ask if I have a question."

"Query: Master, this droid was built for combat. It would be unwise to remove that processing."

Anna looked back at HK. "And if the droid wants it?"

"Explanation: Droids abide by the will of their masters. However, if we are looking to put it this droid out of its misery I suggest —"

"That a blaster would be faster. I know what you suggest." She turned back and took a step forward. "Let me work."

Carth took a step back, hand ready to hit the emergency on-off switch Anna had secretly installed on HK if he decided to get finnicky. But the droid merely whirred, metal hand caressing his gun.

He watched as Anna carefully worked in the droid's central panel, her tongue caught between her teeth as her nimble fingers darted around inside its inner workings. "Carth," she murmured. "I need you to go into my bag and get the 'spanner."

He carefully stepped forward, keeping one eye close on HK, and fished her spanner out before clapping it into her hand. She slid it in, wiggled something, then held her hand back out. "Socket wrench."

"You keep these on hand?" he asked as he handed her the requested tool.

She jerked her head at HK and wriggled a socket. "Here we go. I've almost got the protocol box out . . . There!" She tugged, and he watched as a small box plopped into her hand. The droid slumped. She reached into her bag and pulled out a datapad. "I'm going to have to try and hotwire it into this. It's not as good as a terminal but it'll have to do."

"How . . ." He watched as she carefully pried off the back of the datapad, pulling out some of the wires and carefully connecting them to the box. The datapad lit up, a series of numbers and letters running across the screen. "What —"

"Sh." Her eyes flickered across the screen, tapping here and there with her stylus. Finally she nodded, pressed a button, and began to disconnect the box. "There we go. He should be able to function as a regular protocol droid now. No problem."

She quickly reattached the box and closed the panel, slipping her tools back into her bag. The droid powered back up, eyes flickering. "Yes, that . . . that works. I thank you, sentient. There are several redundant weapons systems that I removed myself. You are free to take them. Farewell." It raised its arm, and something powered up on its feet.

"Wait!" Anna said, holding out her hand. HK powered up his weapon, and Carth quickly reached over and turned him off. There was a crash as the droid powered through the ceiling of the tomb, the ground rumbling but not caving. Anna threw her hand out, and rocks bounced harmlessly off the shield she'd thrown over them.

"Hopefully that isn't going to cave in," she said. "Come on, search the tomb and hurry up."

By the time they got out of the tomb, it was almost dark. Anna gauged the sky, then sighed. "I don't think we're going to make it back tonight. Probably for the best. We can camp out here in the valley and clear out Ajunta Pall's tomb tomorrow."

"You sure?" Carth asked. "It'll get awfully cold out here."

She grinned. "That's why I've got you." She patted the side of his head, then started back towards the tomb entrance.

"Damn it, woman!" Carth shouted after her. She put a little extra sashay into her step as she walked away, and he grimaced and turned HK back on.

"Diagnostic: Running. Complete. Statement: HK-47 is ready to — did you engage an on-off switch to—"

"Yeah," Carth said, clapping the droid on his shoulder as he walked by

 


	34. Chapter 34

The  _Hawk_ just seemed  _empty_  without Anna and Carth; as they'd been together the longest of the group they were everyone's cornerstones, and Anna was the undisputed peacemaker. So far Juhani had nearly torn Canderous apart, stopping when Jolee and Bastila had talked her down and Zaalbar had gotten in between the two and forcibly separated them. That had been the worst of their incidents, though, since everything else had mostly been Bastila yelling at Canderous while Canderous laughed his throaty laugh and wandered back into the garage. But Bastila had started to realize that the Mandalorian purposefully went out of his way to push her buttons, and had begun to react as such.

Carth contacted the ship nearly a full month after they'd arrived. :: _We're in the valley,_ :: he said as everyone grouped around. :: _Anything to report?_ ::

"Yeah," Canderous replied. "Tell Anna we're gonna have to head back to Tatooine."

"We don't have time for your petty disagreement," Bastila said.

"Petty disagreement? You wouldn't understand."

:: _What happened, Ordo?_ ::

"Ran into one of my soldiers. Challenged me to a fight on Tatooine. I intend to collect on that."

:: _I'll let Anna know. I'm sure she'll be running off immediately._ :: There was a small hint of sarcasm in Carth's voice. :: _Anything else?_ ::

"The Jedi want to know your progress is," Bastila said. "They're asking me to speak to them in person on Dantooine."

"She wants to know if she can borrow the ship," Jolee explained. Bastila glared at him.

Carth relayed the question to Anna, and they could just barely hear her over the comm. :: _She says to just make sure you bring the ship back in one piece._ ::

"It shouldn't take us too much time to run to Dantooine and back," Canderous said, rubbing at a scratch on his gun. "We'll be back before you know it."

:: _Yeah, I hope so. We're close to finishing this thing. We've got one more tomb to explore, which she's doing tomorrow. Maybe four days, at the most._ ::

"If we push the ship we should be back in time," Bastila said. "Dantooine is not far."

They hadn't tested the extent of the  _Hawk_ 's speed yet — Bastila seemed to think this was a good time to.

:: _Well, if someone feels comfortable flying her — though the computers will do the work through hyperspace — then go ahead. But I'm sure they'll want to talk to her when she's done._ ::

"I know, Carth. But I've been ordered there immediately."

:: _Then get going. We all know you don't want to keep the Jedi waiting._ :: There was a bit of hesitation in his voice, and they figured it was likely that he wasn't comfortable with the idea of not having backup. :: _Besides it'll do you all good to get off the planet for a while._ ::

"That's the truth." Canderous ran his thumb along his gun.

"We'll set off then, to ensure that we're back when you need us," Bastila said. "It shouldn't take long, as I said."

:: _Well just hurry. We're close to ending this thing. I can feel it._ ::

The comm disconnected and they sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Can I find a drexel and kill it?" Canderous asked.

"Yes," Bastila agreed.

"Sold." He stood and headed for the cockpit.

#

Anna woke up the next morning nestled against Carth's chest, even closer than usual due to the tight quarters of the bedroll they were sharing. The thermal tent was trapping in heat now, and she was starting to feel surprisingly hot.

Without waking him she carefully extracted herself and began rummaging through the pack, finally taking it outside when the heat drove her out. It was only dawn, but the temperature was already scorching.

Carth stepped out of the tiny tent a few minutes later, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "What'd I miss?" he yawned.

"Nothing." She handed him a thermos of cold caffa and a ration bar. "Just awful hot in there."

"Mm." Carth glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, tempted to make a comment about having a beautiful woman sleeping next to him making the heat worse, but decided against it. "It was. So, Ajunta Pall today?"

"Yep," Anna replied, taking another swallow from the thermos before handing it back. "And we're going in blind, before you ask. It's just supposed to be booby trapped. Sounds fairly straightforward in that regard."

"Good to hear." He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet, and they began packing away the remains of their paltry breakfast. "Shall we?"

"I suspect we shall." They packed up their tent, and Carth pulled the pack onto his back. They started for the tomb, and Anna cleared her throat.

"Carth?"

"Yeah."

"So . . . that thing that happened in the first tomb."

"You're bringing this up now?" Anna nodded, then nodded at the guard at the tomb. He saluted and opened the door. "Why not, you know, back after it happened?"

"I was sleeping," she replied. "It's tough to talk when you're half comatose."

"So . . . what about it?" He had a feeling he knew where she was going, as they paced into the tomb and the door closed behind them. She held up her hand, slowing them to a slow walk as her head swung from side to side to look for traps.

"You seemed fairly excited when you realized I wasn't in imminent danger of death." He opened his mouth as she held up her hand again, then knelt down to disarm a trap. "Not that I  _minded_ , per se, it's just not something I completely expected." She sliced a door, and their conversation was interrupted by a pack of tuk'ata (much to HK's delight). A bridge extended a cavern before them, blocked in the middle by a pillar, and she searched the bodies of several dead Sith on their side of it. "I mean, being happy that someone you know is alive is one thing. Planting one on them is a completely different phenomenon."

"I . . ." He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to figure out what to say. She straightened, reading a dusty old datapad. "I was just—"

"Carth." She turned to him, throwing the datapad aside. "Carth, what the hell is going on?" She motioned. "First it seems as if we can't stand each other, and the next I know I just . . ." Anna threw up her hands in frustration, turning back to the bridge. He carefully grabbed her arm.

"You just  _what_ , Anna?"

She shook her head. "This isn't the place, or the time," she murmured, shaking her head. "The energy here . . . I'll need to clear my head in order to have this conversation."

Carth nodded, then released her. "Then let's get through this tomb."

She nodded. "This pillar is made of a highly flammable substance. What I'm going to do is put one of these —" Anna held up a plasma grenade. "— on a timer, pull the plug after I've put it in the pillar, and high tail it out of there before I get blown up. It should clear our path."

"Oh. You're sure about this?"

"As sure as I've ever been." She fiddled with the grenade for a few seconds. "All right, it's on a timer. I'll be right back."

"Anna —" He held out his hand as she started down the bridge. "Be careful, all right?"

"Always," she replied, a grin crossing her face. He watched as she crossed the bridge, then put the grenade into a notch on the pillar before spinning and sprinting back down.

The grenade went off when she was nearly off the bridge, the shockwave throwing her off her feet and into Carth. He caught her, staggering back against the wall was a wave of heat engulfed him. HK dropped to a stable stance, power flickering briefly in the heat.

"You all right?" Carth panted. Anna nodded, steadying herself. She was covered in dust and grime.

"Fine. You?"

"Yeah." He helped her steady herself, then realized he was still holding her. Acting as if it wasn't any different than usual he set her down, brushing his hands off on his greaves. "All right, so —"

A blaster shot ricocheted off the wall next to them, making them both duck. Anna spun, swallowing as a row of previously deactivated droids sprang to life on an inaccessible platform along the bridge. Their eyes had turned to the trio, as had their weapons.

"There's a lever on the other end of the bridge," Anna said, still a little breathless from the shockwave. "You and HK distract them, I'll see if that lever deactivates them."

"And if it doesn't?" Carth pulled them both behind a rock as the droids fired again. HK returned it, red eyes flashing.

"Then I'll come up with something else. Now do it!" She whirled out of cover and sprinted onto the bridge.

Halfway across it, in the ruins of the pillar, another assault droid slammed into the ground. She slid to a halt, deflecting a blaster bolt that it fired at her. Its guns locked on her, and she squared her shoulders.

"You all right?" Carth yelled.

She grit her teeth and sprinted towards the droid. Right in front of it she slammed her hands into the ground, throwing her legs over her head in a handspring. It gave her the momentum to push off when her feet slammed into the ground again, hands planting onto the droid's head and pushing off again, this time using the Force to make sure she'd land on the bridge and not on the ground that was a questionable distance underneath. She tucked her head into her shoulder and slammed into the ground, using her momentum to roll back to her feet and keep running. The droid tried to turn, its bulk making it slow — she grabbed the lever and pulled. It groaned, rust cracking around it. With a grunt she threw her weight behind it, then used the Force to augment it, losing her grip when the lever jerked into position and falling directly onto her rear in the dust.

The droids collapsed on themselves, lights growing dim. The one on the bridge slumped, already off center, and slid into the abyss beneath.

Carth ran down the bridge, blaster still in hand. "Anna!"

"I'm fine," she said through grit teeth, rubbing her shoulder. It hurt from where she'd impacted the stone with it, but it wasn't broken so she merely dulled the pain and rolled it a few times. He held out his hand, and she let him pull her to her feet.

"What was that?" he asked as HK appeared behind him.

"Well, I'm not as lucky as Juhani and can clear twenty meters in a single move," Anna replied. "I need to get my momentum up. Never tried to do a handspring in lightsaber training though. That was new." She rolled her neck. "Shall we?"

Carth motioned at the door. "After you."

In a few moments they were entering the tomb, the sarcophagus looming in front of them. Anna slowly approached it, still looking for traps. Once there, as she'd done with every tomb, she placed her hand on the lid and closed her eyes. It slid smoothly into a groove on the floor, revealing the intricate top of a Sith coffin. She repeated the action, this time sliding the lid to the side rather than into the floor, revealing a corpse practically mummified in the arid, hot air. It clutched three swords to its chest, and Anna frowned.

"I'm supposed to bring back the sword. But —"

"Which sword?" Carth asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Hence my question."

"Observation: Master, I am detecting strange readings towards the door," HK said, motioning with his gun. Anna and Carth turned, and both gasped.

Standing there was the blue, transparent form of a man, shrouded in archaic looking robes. His face was partially covered, and he watched them warily. "Is that a hologram?" Carth looked back at Anna in time to see her shake her head.

"It's a ghost," she said slowly, walking a circle around it. It tracked her movements. "I don't understand why you can see it, though. They're only visible to Force sensitives."

He held up his hands. "Let's not get into that just yet then. I don't want to be whisked off to the Jedi like you were, thank you very much."

Anna grinned. "You'd be an older Padawan than I." She turned back to the ghost. "I apologize for my rudeness. May I ask who you are?"

"Analysis: Blaster fire may not be effective here," HK said. "But I am prepared to test that at your command, master."

"Not quite yet."

"You mention the Jedi?" The ghost finally said, voice carrying as if from across a vast distance. "A Jedi — here? Why have you come to this dark place, Jedi? Why disturb my sleepless rest?"

"Sir," she repeated. "Are you Ajunta Pall?"

"Yes . . . Once that was my name." His head lowered. "Once I was one of many. We called ourselves Sith Lords — servants of the dark side. In the end we hid from those we betrayed. We fell . . . And I knew it would be so."

She and Carth traded a glance. If this got ugly, just  _how_  were they supposed to fight a ghost? "You were a Sith Lord then? From the ancient times?"

"Has it been so long that you use that word? I have been here so long . . .so lost . . . I cannot remember. We were the first. The first to rebel, to betray, to surrender ourselves to the darkness. So strong, we thought. So wrong."

Carth watched as Anna grilled the ghost, her eyes lit with curiosity. He didn't trust it, especially not when it could barely describe its sword for them. The sword  _she_ needed in order to get the Star Map itself. He watched as she analyzed them closely, watched carefully by the ghost, before sliding the blade with the notch at the pommel into the statue behind the sarcophagus. Carth held his breath, blaster ready. He didn't think the blaster would be effective, but —

"Yes, that is it," Ajunta Pall said, as Anna gripped the sword and removed it again. "That is my sword. Take it, take them all, and use them to right our wrongs. The darkness awaits me."

"It's been long enough," Anna replied quietly, handing Carth the notched sword and the silvery one. "There is no reason for you to stay here."

"No reason? What choice have I?"

"Return to the light. End your torment." She made it sound so simple, Carth thought, as he slid Pall's sword and the silver blade into straps on his back. The other would need to be left behind.

"But I betrayed my old masters. They were never let me return — it is too late."

"No," Anna said, a winning smile crossing her face. "It's never too late, and you have suffered long enough."

"Maybe you're right. If I could return . . . It has been so long, and I regret so much . . ." The image slowly faded away, leaving them alone in the tomb.

"Did you just talk a long dead Sith Lord back to the light side?" Carth asked, as Anna cocked her head and started back to the exit.

"Apparently. Let's go." She looked around herself. "I've got a weird feeling."

They hurried back through the tomb, reaching the door. Just as they did a figure materialized out of thin air — HK raised his blaster, but Anna knocked it back down.

"So the spineless worm actually made it through the tomb," one of the other acolytes — Shaardan, Carth thought his name was — said, crossing his arms. Anna let her hands fall to her lightsabers. "I'm impressed."

"I'm not. Wasn't so hard. What're you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've been hoping someone would do the work in here for some time now. It's been quite the wait."

"Several months, I know." Shaardan scowled at Anna's sickeningly sweet smile.

"You never considered, oh I don't know, getting it  _yourself_?" Carth asked.

"Silence, slave!" Shaardan snapped. "Now, schutta, hand the sword over and I will  _not_ have to kill you."

"Warning," HK said, gun rising. "Touch the master's blade and lose an arm, meatbag."

Anna toyed with the idea of killing him.

"I just intend to relieve you of it. It must be quite a burden, after all."

She smirked. "No, I think he's managing just fine with it. Kind of you to offer, though." She let her hand wrap around her lightsaber — she noticed that Shaardan did the same.

"Oh, but I insist. I refuse to let this chance to impress Master Uthar pass me by — especially for some pathetic excuse for a Sith like yourself. Hand over the sword, worm. You know I'm your better."

The corner of her lip tucked up as an idea struck her. She shouldn't be satisfied about it, but Shaardan bullied the entire Academy. It was about time. "And what do I get?"

"This _isn't_  a negotiation. Hand it over before I get angry."

Her lip twitched again. "Slave, hand me the sword. You know which one it is." Anna glanced over her shoulder at Carth and winked. Realization shone in his eyes, and he quickly drew the silvery blade from the strap.

"Here is Ajunta Pall's sword, master," he said, handing the hilt to her. She threw it, letting it jam in the loose rock at Shaardan's feet.

"And I hope you cut yourself on it," she snarled. "I'll see you pay for this."

"Ah, I seriously think you won't." He pulled the sword out, then started out. "Thanks for the sword, worm."

Shaardan turned and sprinted out of the tomb, obviously in a hurry. She turned back to Carth.

"We should hurry. I suspect we won't want to miss when he presents that to Uthar."

"You're an evil woman, you know that?"

Anna grinned. "Oh yes."

#

They hurried into the central chamber where Uthar was known to meditate, seeing Shaardan already there. A student walked away from the Sith, head hung low, and he stepped up.

"Ah. Shaardan. What is this you bring me?" Shaardan passed over the sword, and Uthar turned it over in his hands.

"It is none other than the sword of Ajunta Pall, master," he said proudly. Anna's mouth twitched once more.

"Fool." There was no anger in Uthar's words. "All the trouble you went through for your deception and you did not even attempt to make a convincing forgery? Or verify the sword's authenticity?" Shaardan's eyes widened.

"Master, I—"

"There is no place for fools amongst the Sith. Begone."

His eyes widened even further as he spotted Anna, standing and waiting patiently, and he extended an accusing hand towards her just before lightning arched out of Uthar's hand and into him. Anna winced, closing her eyes and taking a step back. Carth almost invisibly placed his hand on her back, steadying her.

When she opened her eyes, Shaardan was dead.

"Did you know that was going to happen?" he asked quietly.

"I suspected it would. It is the Sith after all," she replied, just as quiet. "But it was either that or potentially seeing him later, as a full-fledged Sith." Carth nodded, and Anna held out her hand. "The real sword, please?"

He handed it to her, and she stepped forward. "Master Uthar, may I have a moment?"

He turned and nodded. "Yes, Anna. You may."

"I have the  _real_ sword of Pall here." She handed it over, and Uthar inspected it closely.

"You tricked Shaardan." She nodded. "Clever."

"I have also removed the droid from the other tomb."

"I'd heard it flew into the sky."

Anna nodded. "It did. After I activated its self-destruct and programmed it to do so." She straightened slightly. "I did not want it to explode in the tomb, potentially ruining its archaeological significance."

"I see. I cannot accuse you of unclear thinking, then." He checked his datapad. "You have thus managed to remove half of your opposition, clear out all three tombs, remove the student threat in the caves, destroy my old master, give us the location of the Mandalorian weapons cache, and have already graduated out of most of the trials." He nodded. Then you have gained the most prestige of any prospective we have ever had — in fact, I will need to create new trials for future prospectives. I am proud to state that you will be ascending to the ranks of a full Sith. We will prepare the ritual for tomorrow morning."

"That's . . . fairly quick, isnt it?" Anna arched an eyebrow.

"We must move quickly."

"And what will this test require?" Uthar looked ready to rebuke her, and she bowed. "I only wish to ensure that I am fully prepared, Master Uthar."

"You will travel with us to the tomb of Naga Sadow," he said. "At the back is a lightsaber. It will be yours, if you survive to take it. Return to your quarters now and seek me out in the morning."

Anna recognized a dismissal when she heard one, and turned on her heel. Her eyes met Carth's, both of them looking worried.

This was  _fast_.

#

After a month on Korriban, Carth was  _used_  to Anna curling into him at night, using his bulk to keep warm in the chilly academy. So it surprised him when she stayed firmly on the other side of the bed, arms lax at her sides with her eyes blankly locked on the ceiling. She was obviously cold, though, if her shaking was any indication. He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow.

"You all right?"

She glanced over at him, then out at the curtain covering her tiny room's entrance. "I'm worried about tomorrow."

"You're going to get the Map." He reached out and ran a thumb over her arm. "Why are you worried?"

"Alone?" she hissed, rolling onto her side to face him. "Alone, and it's a  _test_? What's going to be in there? What if . . ." She looked away, staring down at her hands.

"Hey. You'll be fine, and you know it."

"I hope so." She frowned, and Carth brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Carth, if I'm not back within two days, you get out of here."

"Don't talk like that. You're the most talented woman I've ever seen. And if you don't come back, I'm coming after you. And no one in this academy is going to stop me."

"Damn straight you  _aren't_ , flyboy," she replied, pulling away. "You're going to get on the  _Hawk_  and get back to Dantooine and tell them that I failed. Then they can do the full assault like they wanted and they can laugh over my body and tell me I was wrong."

"I don't think you're going to fail, gorgeous."

She blinked at him, reaching out to touch his arm. "You look like you want to say something else."

"Oh." He glanced away. "You can tell."

"You keep drooling all over yourself. I think that's a sign."

Carth laughed. "Look, I don't need to take this. If I want female Jedi bashing I can easily get it from Bastila, thank you very much."

"You love the attention," she murmured, brushing his arm. "Admit it."

He laughed. "I can get the same type of attention from a blaster rifle."

"Oh, please." She trailed her fingers along his jaw. He swallowed. "There's things I can do that a blaster rifle can't."

"Uh . . ." He wrapped her hand in his, fighting the flush warming his cheeks. "I've got something serious to talk about though. I'm concerned. About you. I haven't said anything but . . . well." He took a deep breath. Anna's forehead was scrunched in worry. "I'm worried about what might happen to you. You've got a lot of courage and you've stayed strong, even here, but there's going to be even more ahead. I'm worried you're setting yourself up for a fall. Maybe at the urging of the Jedi, but . . . you're going to become a target."

"Carth," she interrupted. "Malak's sent Calo Nord, two packs of ex-Jedi, and his own apprentice after us. I think we're already a target."

"But that's  _us._  I mean  _you_." He interlaced their fingers, almost unconsciously. "And if I'm going to find a purpose beyond taking revenge on Saul, it's going to have to be protecting you." He sighed, staring down at their hands. "I don't know why, but I feel like some awful fate is waiting for you, and the Council knows it. And I don't . . ."

Anna reached forward and pressed a finger to his lips. "Are you sure you aren't being paranoid?"

"Yes!" he protested. "Something's not right. I blamed you before but . . ."

"The Jedi didn't tell us everything." He nodded.

"If I'm going to live past Saul I need you to as well. Let me protect you – from yourself, from the Sith . . . just let me  _try_."

She shook her head. "Carth, why?"

"Because –" he sighed again. "Because I couldn't save my family. Because I didn't stop Saul when I had the chance. Because I finally have the chance to do it right. You're an extraordinary woman – you make me think that  _maybe_  I have a purpose beyond revenge."

"Carth . . ." She sighed. "Carth, thanks."

"And I can't protect you tomorrow but I'll make damn sure that I come after you if you don't come back."

She would have asked if he was sure, but the dark energy wouldn't cause him to make such a vow. But she knew that the tugging of that dark pull was what made her lean forward, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that was mostly curious, then deeper but still curious when his tongue darted out to slide her lips apart. He shrugged out of his shirt when Anna struggled with it, his fingers hesitantly tugging at the shirt she wore under her robe.

Anna knew that neither of their heads were clear. She'd been fighting the lure of the energy on Korriban the entire month, and it'd made her snappy and tense. It made her study him closely – his expressive brows, his finely toned body, his dark eyes – her mind inventing ideas about what he might be like in bed, the way he could probably make her feel if they gave one another the chance. And his drift hadn't been hard to read either, the way his mind wandered to her hips when she was walking in front of him, the way his throat went dry when he caught sight of her after a fight, and lately the sort of things she'd caught him thinking late at night when he believed her to be asleep, his hands twitching with the effort he exerted to keep them from stripping her to see what she did look like under her robe.

It was that sense that she had on Korriban, thanks to the strong Force presence, that let her know just why he was pulling back as she laced her fingers through his hair, applying pressure to his chest to push him onto his back.

"You're right," he murmured. "You've been fighting the atmosphere here for weeks. I . . . I don't want . . . Anna I—"

Anna pushed hard and got him onto his back, and straddled his hips. "You aren't taking advantage of me," she whispered, her hands caressing his chest. "I've been waiting since Taris."

"You  _what_?" He sighed, hands tugging at her hair. "Yeah, I shouldn't be surprised."

And with that, he pulled her back down to him.

 


	35. Chapter 35

Carth was the first awake, the room dim as usual and the sheet across the entrance to Anna's cubby shuddering in the dull breeze that seemed to rumble down every corridor in the mountain. Anna was sprawled across his chest, sheet nearly off her bare back. She was still deeply asleep, the occasional small snuffle breaking the otherwise still morning.

He lay there for a while, shock taking over as he slowly woke up. He looked down at the mop of blonde hair spread across his chest, the color beginning to fade back to red with time and washings. She looked —  _was_  — beautiful in sleep, her face uncreased by worry and focus, looking even younger than he was used to. Unable to resist he drug a finger down her spine, her skin strangely warm in the chill air. Her eyelids flickered with early wakefulness, and he braced himself.

She moved as if preparing herself for a stretch, then froze. With a gasp she rocketed up and away from him, clutching the sheet up to her chest before she paused and looked down at it.

"I suppose you saw everything already," she said with a shrug, though by now she looked cold and wrapped the sheet around her for warmth. He chuckled. "Carth, I — I'm sorry, last night, the energy here — I don't want you to think that I was—"

"You said you'd been waiting for that since Taris," he replied quietly. Anna blinked.

"Be that as it may. I just . . ." She cleared her throat. "If, you know . . . I'm not holding you to anything, just so you understand. After all there's the whole 'no attachments' thing and —"

He leaned forward and kissed her, letting his lips stop her protest. "Stop. We'll talk about what it did or didn't mean later."

"Okay." She nodded. "I'll stop."

"You've got a big couple of days ahead of you. You should get ready."

She grinned, beginning to swing herself out of bed and sticking her hand out to pull her clothes towards her. "Oh, I think I'm ready." He swung out of bed on the other side, pulling his own clothes on. When he looked back she'd settled on the bed, brushing out the hair he'd messed up the night before. "Mind getting me breakfast?"

"Not at all." He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, grinning as he disappeared. She let the brush fall to the bed and rubbed her eyes with her palms.

What the hell had she been thinking?

She didn't  _regret_  it, in so much that it'd been amazing, but she wasn't Anna the Smuggler anymore. She was Anna the Jedi, supposed to be a protector of the galaxy and an upholder of strict moral standards — even though she often laughed at that. But hadn't she once said that she and Carth would never get to this point? Bastila was going to have a heart attack if she ever found out, and if Anna's hunch was correct that meant the Council would find out as well, and then she'd really be in for it.

Unless she could run from it, convince herself that it was just a one-night thing, an incident that would never be repeated and just a byproduct of the energy on Korriban that insidiously encouraged them to explore that area of their psyche.

Even as the thought occurred to her, she quashed it. Firstly she owed Carth more than that, and she would never let it be said that she was a woman who cast a lover aside with no second thought. But secondly, she suspected that only her inhibitions had been lowered from fatigue, due to resisting the call of the dark side that inhabited every corner and rock of Korriban. She doubted that energy had helped either, in that regards . . . but all it would have done is exacerbate feelings she may have for him, and lower her ability to resist those feelings. She frowned.

Did she have feelings for him?

Anna quickly picked up the brush and brushed out her hair, twisting it onto her head as she mused over the question. It was just in time because Carth returned with their trays, settling one on her lap and sitting down next to her. "Thanks," she said, putting her brush aside and picking it up her fork.

"Well, wouldn't want to stop our system from this whole month." She grinned as they both dug into the tasteless mush they served the prospectives.

"No, not at all." She studied him as she ate, trying to watch his body language. He sat close to her, their knees touching. One of his hands had fallen inches from hers on the bed and as a test she moved so that her fingers rested the smallest bit on top of his, trying to look casual as she gauged his reaction. He didn't really seem to react negatively but he glanced up, smiled lightly at her, and twined their fingers together.

Okay, so it didn't seem to be a "fling" for him either.

"You look like something's on your mind."

Anna shrugged, chewing a mouthful of food. "No more than usual."

"Something different." He squinted. "You know, it doesn't take Jedi powers to read a woman sometimes either."

She glanced up. "Oh?"

"Anna . . ." He ended her name in a sigh. "Look. About last night, it —"

"We're just going to have to talk about it, back on the ship." She smiled. "We'll have plenty of time on the way to Dantooine to figure it out."

"True enough. And you don't need to worry about it while you're off getting the Map." He set his tray aside and started to stand. "I—"

"Carth." She grabbed his hand, and he sank back down. "Look, I need to tell you something."

He nodded. "All right. Hit me with it."

"All right." She took a deep breath. "I just want to tell you —" Her brain added  _in case something happens_ , but she kept that to herself. "—that I . . . I'm glad you're still here. I'm glad the fleet didn't recall you. I don't know what we would have done without you, you know? I'm, ah . . . Anyway, I don't know what we would have done without you."

"Right. Well . . ." He nodded. "I'm glad I didn't leave either. When did you have to meet Uthar?"

"Uh . . ." Anna squinted at her chrono and stood. "Now." She hefted the bedroll and her bag over her shoulder. "Can you take care of the dishes?"

He nodded, then took a step forward. "Be careful?"

She nodded back. "I will be." She reached out and touched his cheek. "Keep your head down, all right? Don't do anything stupid. I'd hate to come back to find you dead."

They stood frozen for a second, gazes locked. Carth started to open his mouth.

HK paced into the room. "Query: Master, isn't it time for your meeting with the lead meatbag?"

They took a quick step away from each other. "Yes. Thank you, HK." Anna nodded at Carth. "Take care."

"You too."

HK's head rotated between the two of them. "Analysis: Master, I must warn you that continuing these actions will lead to increased exposure to unsatisfactory health conditions. I would not want to see you made infirm."

Anna flushed and stalked past him. "Stay here," she barked at HK as she passed. "Guard my room."

Carth glared at the droid. "Was that really necessary?"

"Condescending justification: Yes, it was, meatbag."

#

"We are being recalled to Coruscant."

Bastila had not been called back to Dantooine to hear this news; she'd been called back to discuss Anna's current state and progress since Taris over something that did not require twelve levels of encryption and seven Astromech droids. But they would be preparing to leave rather shortly, the next morning, in order to push the  _Hawk_  through another day-long trip back to Korriban. She had been in with them all day, being debriefed on Anna's entire experience on Korriban, and they were preparing to let her leave.

Canderous had "talked" Zaalbar into going out with him, hunting for the huge, bad-tempered creatures he'd spent most of Anna's training looking for. Mission had gone to visit Sasha and see how she was doing, and T3 was working with Jolee on the synthesizer. In another day or so she suspected they would have it completely cleaned out. And Juhani had gone to visit friends. That left only Bastila, on official Jedi business on the world.

Hearing that the Council was leaving.

"Why?" she inquired.

"The High Council is requesting an in-person analysis of Anna's state." Zhar did not mince words. "From what you've told us her progress has been better than expected, with no truly threatening slips into Revan's former personality, but they want to hear it for themselves. We recognize that we cannot pull you from your mission, however — so we are the next best thing."

Bastila could only imagine how Vrook's report would sound.

"This is why it was imperative for you to return quickly," Vandar explained. "This cannot wait. They are concerned that her extended exposure to Korriban may have adverse effects."

"You believe her memory will return?" she asked.

"It is a . . . possibility." The small green Jedi glanced at his fellow Council members. "You will still be required to report to us regularly, and we will attempt to return in time to debrief her in person when you return from Korriban. Now, Bastila, make your report so you may return quickly."

Bastila took a deep breath, and began.

#

:: _Our fleet is in position around Dantooine. The freighter that Lord Malak is interested in has taken off from the planet._ :: The rear admiral said, lowering his hand from his salute. :: _Are we to engage?_ ::

"No," Karath said. "The  _Ebon Hawk_ is to be allowed to continue its flightpath — I know its destination, and I will deal with it myself. As soon as it is clear . . ." Karath straightened the smallest bit. "Your orders are to enter the sector and bomb the Jedi Enclave."

:: _Sir . . ._ :: The admiral looked concerned, glancing away from the projector that was sending his image across known space. :: _Sir, you want us to perform an aerial strike on so small a target?_ ::

"No," he replied. "Lord  _Malak_  wants you to perform the strike and if you do not, you will answer directly to him for your insubordination. I have given you an order, Admiral, I expect you to follow it."

The admiral still looked dubious, but saluted. :: _Y-yes, sir. Do you expect the Jedi to resist?_ ::

Karath scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Dismissed." The image wavered, and he turned to his aide. "Prepare the tractor beam and the high security cells, and send the team to Korriban. We will be having some honored guests soon."

The aide saluted and hurried off, and Karath folded his hands behind his back as he stared at the distant form of Korriban far distant from their position outside its hyperspace lane.

#

Anna switched off her lightsaber as the last terentatek fell, panting. She caught herself on the wall, breathing heavily.

"Who the  _hell_ ," she murmured, panting as she slid to her knees to catch her breath. "Puts two terentateks in one room?"

She closed her eyes, focusing on the Force. She had slash wounds across her body from the creatures, and she focused on knitting the skin back together. The rest of her focus went to trying to restore some of her energy.

Behind this door, there had to be a way to get past that acid pool.

She finally stood, pulling the lever by the door and opening it. There were two pillars, each of which bore a grenade. She'd already covered half the tomb the night before, ending up in the corner of one massive room and spending a restless night. The tomb was huge — no wonder it was so difficult for prospectives — and she regretted giving Carth a two-day deadline. It was already late afternoon, and taking down the terentateks had sapped most of her energy.

She made her way back to the acid pool, the sickly green liquid slowly eating through the stone floor. She kept the fire grenade in a pocket, and carefully threw the cold one. It exploded, flash-freezing the pool solid.

With a sigh of relief, Anna quickly walked across it. She was close.

She sliced through the door to the inner sanctum of the tomb, and it opened.

There it was.

As she walked towards it, the Star Map opened. She inserted her datapad, one hand running through the map's holographic surface.

One more down. One more to go. And then Malak would be finished, and the Republic would emerge victorious. Or so she hoped.

She clicked out the datapad, and fetched the lightsaber. Taking another moment to center herself through her exhaustion, she adjusted her torn black robes and started back towards the exit.

To her surprise, Uthar and Yuthura were waiting for her at the still-frozen acid pool. She frowned, drawing to a stop.

"So. You've returned to us with the lightsaber, as I knew you would." She nodded, and tossed it to him. He likely didn't realize that the night before, when she was attempting to sleep, she had replaced the red crystals in her lightsaber with the yellow and silver ones that she favored. She wouldn't hopefully reveal it.

She would have changed her robes if she didn't need to get through the Academy later.

"The Force has served you well," Yuthura added.

"You took a great risk in aquiring this artifact. You used your mind and your power — no peaceful meditation, no pacifism."

 _If only he knew_ , Anna thought.

"Sometimes you must fight to achieve greatness. This gives you passion, which gives you strength. This makes you superior. That is the lesson you were to learn here. Do you understand?"

"So, the puzzle, the tuk'ata, the wraid, the terentateks," she started. "Oh, and the clever little acid pool here . . . You're saying that a Jedi couldn't have gotten past those?"

"A Jedi acts with skill, true. But the Jedi teach that strength is only found in peace. That passion is counter-productive." Anna swallowed. Well,  _that_  just reminded her that she needed to keep  _certain_  things out of her report to the Jedi. "Did you not feel a moment of excitement in the tomb? Did your passions not flow and make you feel stronger and more alive?"

Not really, Anna thought. If anything they were just making her tired. She just wanted to go home to the  _Hawk_  and take a nap on the way to Dantooine.

"What purpose would be served by restricting yourself? I would say only the purposes of the Jedi. Through this they control you, and restrict your potential."

"I don't feel superior or anything."

"If you came here, you must have felt the lure of the dark side. But I can only show you the path that will lead to power and superiority. You have followed it thus far — now it is for you to decide."

"You know what, I think I've got it," Anna said. If she tried to turn back, she'd be killed. They were Sith, after all.

"Good. The last part of your test will now commence. Here you will learn the lesson of competition. All life competes in order to flourish — such is the way of the universe. To stand still is to die, to move forward is to survive." She nodded, her eyes flicking to Yuthura. The Twi'lek hadn't seemed to figure out where he was going with this. Anna had — it was clear. She'd been the best recruit in years . . . It would only make sense to be rid of her and accept Anna as his new underling. "So is it the same amongst the Sith. Compete or die. Mercy is irrelevant. So it is for your benefit, in this final test, to strike down one you are familiar with only to prove your superiority."

"You want me to kill Yuthura, and then assume her position."

He nodded.

Yuthura took a step back. "This is what you had planned all along?! You wished me killed!"

"Indeed. You have become too ambitious. It is time for you to die and someone more  _talented_ to take your place."

Yuthura glanced at Anna, and then back at Uthar. "You are not the only one with plans in place," she spat. "My pupil will stand with me."

"Oh?" Uthar turned back to her. "Is this true, young one? You wish to join Yuthura in her foolish scheme?"

Anna's lip twitched. "I have to say I'm with her on this."

"Do you hear that, my master? That is the sound of a new leader rising to replace you."

Uthar didn't waste time with speaking. He drew his lightsaber, the red blade reflecting off the frozen acid. Anna brought up her shield, diving and rolling backwards to avoid his first strike. As Yuthura tried to engage his blade she threw her own lightsaber towards him, guiding it with the parried it, sending it ricocheting back to her and requiring a quick manipulation to make sure it landed in her hand rather than through it. She — and apparently Uthar — could sense that Yuthura hadn't shielded herself, and he arched his hand to let lightning fall off it towards the Twi'lek. Anna dodged beneath his blades, throwing her hand out in a push. Uthar flew across the room, crashing into the wall, and Anna reached into her pocket for a grenade. Her hand latched onto the tomb's fire grenade rather than the plasma one she'd been looking for, and she had an idea.

She reached out and grabbed Yuthura, pulling her off the acid pool and pushing her into the hallway as Uthar stood and arched his hand towards them. Anna sensed the attack coming, a drawing up of lightning —  _what is it with Sith and lightning anyway?_  — and deflected it with her on-hand blade, sending the attack back towards him. Turning off her blade, she sprinted off the acid and into the hallway, throwing the grenade behind her. With the Force, she grabbed for the door and slammed it closed.

An explosion rocked the tomb, knocking both Yuthura and Anna off their feet. They lay there for a few seconds, panting, and Yuthura started laughing. Anna glanced over at her, and let a laugh escape her as well.

"Well, that went well," Anna said, getting to her feet. She held out her hand to Yuthura, helping her up.

"You changed the colors of your blades."

Anna froze, then glanced down at them. "I like these colors better," she lied.

"It doesn't matter," she admitted. "Uthar is dead and the Academy has entered a new era. And while I do like you, truly, I'm afraid I cannot share power with anyone. Not even you."

Anna shrugged. "I don't  _want_  it. Take it. Knock yourself out."

"If only I could believe you." She seemed sad as she ignited her lightsaber. "Let's get this over with. Quickly."

Anna sighed. She was tired, she was still aching from the terentateks throwing her about the room, and she did not want to kill her. Despite the fact that she was a Sith, she'd grown fond of her.

Before Yuthura could move, she reached her arm out and picked Yuthura off he ground, sending her flying. She followed it with her lightsaber, slicing it through Yuthura's thigh — enough to hurt, but not enough to kill her or even sever the limb. She raised her lightsaber and Anna smacked it out of her hand.

"Enough!" Anna shouted, her voice echoing. "Gods-damn it, stop."

"Fine," Yuthura panted, still collapsed against the wall. "I yield." She lowered her head. "Please. Finish it quickly. I'm at your mercy."

"Never thought I'd hear a Sith asking for mercy."

"I suppose I am. Something tells me that you are not like the other students. I-I don't know why. I was right when we first met — there is something different about you. More so than I suspected."

"I never intended to be a Sith," Anna admitted. "But I got what I came for."

"I didn't think you were here to train. I should have realized that sooner. So will you show mercy? Will you . . . just let me leave?"

"Why did you try to kill me?"

Yuthura frowned. "I had no choice. You reminded me too much of a time before I became a Sith — I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to see my reflection in you."

"Perhaps you should think about it then. I'll let you leave." Anna knelt down, handing Yuthura back her lightsaber. "On one condition."

"Name it."

"You leave this place," she said. "You rethink your life. And the next time I see you, that blade needs to be a different color. What would the slaves who made you pursue this say, if they were to know that you threw away their freedom in exchange for promises of power? That you sacrificed your dream for the quick road?"

Yuthura was quiet.

"The Sith will never help you free them," Anna added. "The condition is that you seek out the Jedi and then use your training to free those slaves."

She ducked her head again. "All the things I wanted to do, all the wrongs I intended to right . . . They just got further away from my mind."

"As you fell," Anna said gently. "And if you climb back towards them you'll be able to reach them."

The Twi'lek nodded, bowing her head in defeat again. "I . . . You are right. This isn't the person I was."

"Then change it."

She nodded. "I don't know if I can go back to the Jedi . . . But my place is certainly not here. You have a destiny, my friend, and if I helped you achieve it, then perhaps I've done something."

"We'll rest here tonight. I'll see what I can do for your wounds," Anna said, helping prop Yuthura up against the wall. "And we'll talk about how you can help me get my friend and I out of the Academy alive when they realize that Uthar is dead."

She nodded. "He isn't your slave either?" Anna shook her head. "Pity. I was going to ask about buying him."

Anna gave her a small grin. "Yeah. I don't think he'd appreciate me trying to sell him. Besides, I think I want to keep him around for a while."

#

Carth had grown so used to waking up next to Anna that it was hard to sleep, even with HK standing guard (and partially because HK might take the opportunity to kill him in his sleep). He spent most of his time in Anna's cell, since the  _Hawk_  was gone and he didn't trust someone to  _not_ try and kill him. He just didn't trust someone to not kill him just for wandering the halls.

It gave him time to sort out his thoughts — mostly about Anna, a few about other things. By the end of the second day he'd completely outlined every revelation he'd had about her and the often tumultuous relationship between them, everything he'd discovered that he loved about her and how he felt about this insanity. He waited with rapt anticipation, pacing the room and waiting for the sound of the door to the valley opening.

By the morning of the third day, when there'd been no sign of her, he was close to panicking.

She'd said two days. The  _Hawk_  would be back at any time, and they needed to be ready to leave. But where was she? She couldn't have . . . he wouldn't let himself believe that she'd been killed.

His nervous self finally left her room, pacing by the valley door. He had half a mind to go after her, and the other half wanted to send HK after her.

He had just about decided to send the droid, around midday, when the door opened to admit Yuthura and Anna. Both looked exhausted, and Yuthura was limping. Carth wanted to run and embrace his once-friend-now-something-unknown, but he remembered his role as soon as he took a step forward and bowed instead. Yuthura murmured something to her, and Anna nodded to Carth before striding for her room. He fell into step beside her.

"We need to get HK and the bags," she said quietly and hurriedly. "Yuthura can only guarantee us a half hour of safety."

"What happened?"

"Uthar's dead and she's gone to the light side. She suspects she has a half-hour before people start asking questions about Uthar. She's going to 'run' the academy in the meantie but secretly undermine the Sith actions. She'll leave if it gets too hot."

"How? Is she going to be able to?"

Anna gave him the look. "She worked for a Hutt once, I think she knows the ropes. Now come  _on_."


	36. Chapter 36

Carth and Anna walked out of the Academy, heading back towards Dreshdae. "Thank the Force that's over," she said, letting wind from the desert tickle her face as she poured water over her hair, rinsing out the last of the color and letting her brilliant red shine back through. "I'm so tired of this damn planet."

"So am I," Carth said. Anna reached over and wrapped her hand around his, as dingy yellow water cascaded down the back of her dark robes.

"Well," she said as they walked into the spaceport. "It's certainly left us with loose ends."

He sighed and nodded. "It has. I wonder if the ship's back yet?"

"We'll find out, I suppose." She shrugged. "I—"

"Stop!" Anna and Carth jerked to a halt as a Sith and several Sith officers stepped out from the landing pad that belonged to the _Hawk_ , weapons in hand. "Anna Kyjjl and Carth Onasi, you are ordered to stand down."

"By whose authority?"

"The Sith Empire."

Carth's blasters were already at the ready, and Anna's lightsabers sprung to her hands. "I'm sorry," Anna said. "But we don't follow the orders of the Sith. Now stand aside."

"I apologize," the Sith said. "I did not intend to insinuate that I was  _asking_. Weapons down, and –"

"Query: Master?"

Anna glanced at HK then Carth, nodded, and they broke.

As the few civilians in the spaceport ran for the hallway to the cantina, Carth dove behind the sales counter and opened fire on the Sith soldiers. Anna hurried forward, ducking under the Sith's blade as he swung it towards her. HK opened fire, partially from behind a pillar, his blaster rifle's precise shots taking out several soldiers very quickly. Anna parried the Sith's lightsaber, using her own to try and strike across his torso. He stepped back and she followed through, stabbing him through his chest.

Running feet sounded from both sides of the room, and Anna dove behind the counter with Carth just in time to see at least five other full Sith adepts sprint into the room, lightsabers at the ready. She collapsed against the counter, panting, eyes closed. Damn.

"I hate it when other people have back up plans as well," she murmured.

"How many?" Carth asked, reading the problem on her face and by how she was gripping her weapons.

"At least five. Maybe more." She paused. "Probably more."

"We aren't getting out of this." It was a matter-of-fact statement, a sincere recognition that they were either about to die or be hauled in front of Malak in chains. Behind it somewhere there was a sad recognition that they wouldn't get to discuss what they desperately needed to discuss.

"No, but I think they want us alive," Anna said. Someone yelled another charge to surrender. "I can set HK on a timer. He'll be able to blast his way out and find us when we get wherever they're taking us."

"He's all the way over there," Carth replied.

"I can do it from over here," she said. "But Carth, we're not . . ."

"Be careful?" he asked. She nodded, then leaned in and kissed him desperately. He responded, one hand gripping her still-damp hair, desperate to never let go. She drew back long before she wanted, resting her hand on Carth's cheek for the smallest second.

"Off we go," she said, with a strong smile coated in tension that belied her concerns. He nodded, and opened fire.

Anna stretched her hand past him towards HK, closing her eyes as she focused on the mechanism that would set him on his six-hour timer. The droid suddenly slumped, gun falling as his eyes turned dark. Anna grit her teeth and vaulted the counter, lightsabers igniting mid-jump as she slammed full-force into the closest Sith.

She knew it would only be a matter of minutes before she was overwhelmed, parrying off at least three Sith at once as they rushed her. Carth took down one, her hair whipping as the shots flew past her head.

In less than a minute two of the Sith had stunned her, forcing her to her knees. She was tired, she'd been fighting all day, she hadn't slept well in a month, she was exhausted from the energy and the fighting and the— two of them ripped her lightsabers away from her, throwing binders around her wrists. A few of the others pulled Carth out from his cover with the Force and slammed him into the ground, winding him long enough to bind his own hands.

"It would have been better for you to surrender," the leader said, as two Sith grunts fetched HK.

"Go to hell," Carth replied sharply, glancing at Anna as he was pushed to his knees next to her. She was stubbornly silent, a glare coloring her eyes.

"Mm. It won't be us going there." He nodded at the two grunts, who began hauling HK to the landing pad. "Put them under and bring them after us." He turned and swept after them.

Carth watched helplessly with the smallest struggle as one of the Sith pressed his hand to Anna's forehead, cutting off her hard glare when her eyes slid closed and she collapsed against her captors. He didn't have long to feel helpless, though, as another pressed his own palm against Carth's head and darkness began to overwhelm the edges of his vision.

#

Jolee stretched in the pilot's seat, glancing over at Canderous. The Mandalorian was cleaning his gun, humming to himself in the copilot's seat.

"Gods damn it," he murmured under his breath. "There isn't going to be anything to shoot on Manaan."

"Manaan might surprise you," Jolee replied.

"Damn Selkath like their  _peace_ too much," Canderous replied, frowning.

"Well, I'm—"

Jolee slammed into the front panel as the ship jerked suddenly, alarms blaring as they literally  _fell_  out of hyperspace.

"We got pulled out of lightspeed," Jolee said, skimming the panels. "We'll have to try to overclo–oooh." The ship listing dangerously as the cockpit suddenly went pitch black, whirring as emergency power kicked in and the dim emergency lights kicked back on.

"What?!" Canderous craned his neck, catching sight of a Sith interdictor bow crossing their window. "Oh . . ."

"What is going on?!" Bastila yelled, sprinting into the cockpit. She caught sight of the ship and paled. "Oh,  _no_."

"You recognize it?" Jolee asked, starting to stand.

"It's the Sith fleet's flagship," she said. "Can we pull out? Fight the tractor beam?"

Jolee shook his head. "The lights flickering? They hit us with an ion canon. Everything except emergency power is dead. And if we did? They'd blast us into dust in a second."

Bastila swallowed, her mouth dry. "How long do we have?"

"Minutes. Maybe," Canderous said, checking a screen.

"Then it sounds as if we need a plan." Bastila turned and strode back into the main hold, Jolee and Canderous jogging after her. She had to stay calm. She  _had_  to.

"What is going on?" Juhani asked, glancing at the trio. Everyone had gathered in the hold, eyes wide and weapons ready.

"It's the  _Leviathan_ ," Bastila said quietly. "The Sith flagship. We're caught in its tractor beam. It must have been waiting for us to return to Korriban. I'm afraid that Carth and Anna are likely already on board, or being ambushed on the planet's surface."

"We can't get out of it?" Mission asked, already having turned very pale. "Put the engine into overdrive or –"

"No," Jolee said. "Not out of an Interdictor's tractor beam."

"Well then we need a plan," Juhani said. "We cannot allow our mission to be halted by . . .  _this_."

Canderous nodded. "I've been in an Interdictor." Bastila looked at him suspiciously. "Long story, princess, don't ask. It's gonna be best to break out of as many places as possible."

:: _Droid timer,_ :: T3 suggested. :: _Six hours, usually. I can come after you._ ::

"There's one," Jolee said. "Bastila?"

"No, I suspect I will be . . . unavailable." She looked away. "As will Anna and Carth."

"She's right," Juhani said. "They will separate out those three. Especially Bastila, and I suspect that Malak will have special plans for the who helped her escape from Taris. And there will likely be repurcussions for Carth's rank." She cleared her throat. "I am able to camouflage myself in the Force. I will be invisible to all, unless Malak shows himself. I will attempt to hold the hangar deck, and then will find you when our escape begins."

"Mission, I'll try to keep you with me," Jolee said with a nod. "I doubt that they will think an old man and a Twi'lek girl are important. Nor will they, after I convince them otherwise." She nodded, still gripping Zaalbar's fur tightly in one hand and his bowcaster in the other.

" _I will keep my head down,_ " Zaalbar said. " _And I will join you when the alarms go off as well._ "

"Canderous, you have not proposed a solution yet," Bastila noted. Canderous nodded.

"I'll be fine." He started towards the medical bay and engine room. "Hey, princess? You could always try showing a little leg. Might let us go for it." He mock-saluted and disappeared.

Bastila glared after him. "We should split up as well. We should not make it easy on them. We will begin in six hours."

They split up, Jolee pulling Mission into the medical bay with his arm around her shoulders, just as the top of the docking bay scraped the ship and they were pulled into the  _Leviathan_.

#

"The crew of the freighter has been secured, sir." One of the Sith soldiers saluted, the  _Ebon Hawk_  silently resting in the hanger behind him.

"How many men did you lose?"

"Um . . . Twelve. Mostly from Shan and the Wookiee."

The lieutenant nodded and looked down at his datapad. "The men on Korriban brought in Kyjjl and Onasi already. Who was on board the freighter?"

"Shan was in one of the dormitories and gave us a spot of trouble. We've already taken her up to the high security cells as requested by the Admiral. One of the dark Jedi took her out for us. The Wookiee was hit with several stun blocks. We've taken it to solitary."

A stretcher rolled by, a human form on it covered by a bloodstained sheet. "What's that?"

"Found a Mandalorian in the back. Looks like he was trying to rig the engines to break out of the tractor beam, and got hit with an explosion."

"Dead?"

"Looks like it."

"Take him to the morgue. It's probably for the best — what his kind deserves, after all. Who else?"

"Found a Twi'lek girl and an old man in the medical bay — he said they were escaped slaves that Kyjjl was taking back to Dantooine. Some of the men thought they should be kept separately. I-I spoke to him, and I believe that it is a good idea."

"All right. Keep them in solitary until the Admiral can question them."

"Yes, sir." He radioed the orders over his comm.

"And there was no one else on board?"

"No, sir."

The lieutenant clucked. "There were rumors of Kyjjl and Shan traveling with a Cathar Jedi. You checked the ship for her? These smuggling freighters always have a few loose panels and hideaways."

"She would need to be invisible to still be there, sir."

"Must be a rumor, then. I will report to the Admiral and inform him that the prisoners are secure. Return to your post."

"Yes, sir." He saluted and scurried back to the ramp leading to the ship's interior. The lieutenant headed for the elevator to make his report to Karath with a sigh. Good thing it had been a relatively simple capture. He would have hated to ask for more troops.

#

Anna and Carth were awake by the time the shuttle made it back to the  _Leviathan_ , separated on either side of the shuttle with guards around him and dark Jedi around her. Once docked they were marched to the elevator, Carth watching as the button for the detention level was hit. Anna stared blankly at the back of the door, likely trying to gauge their ability to escape or — and perhaps both — memorizing the path back to the hangars.

They were walked through the detention bay, past the main cells — Carth thought that boded poorly for them. He was kept in front, Anna still surrounded by a sizable number of dark Jedi behind him, two gripping her arms tightly. He tried to twist around and check on her once, only to receive a blow from one of the guards' rifles as encouragement to not do so a second time.

True to his suspicions they were taken to the high security cells — a collection of three rooms, each with three cages within. As soon as they were in the room apparently dubbed "theirs" Carth was prodded to the first one, Anna being held back by the door. His hands were unbound and he flexed them, half tempted to rip one of his guards apart.

"Strip," one of them ordered. He winced. Right, prisoners in the high security cells were kept in their undergarments. Security measures. He paused, hands hovering over the toggles on his jacket. Should he just cooperate? Or should he actually put up a fuss, try to—

Anna suddenly yelped and his head jerked up as she was pushed to her knees, one of her guards' fingers danging with lightning. She struggled against their hands as they held her in place.

"Do it," his guard re-ordered. He grimaced and hurriedly stripped to his underwear, stepping back onto the platform with his hands raised. A tech at the boards closed the cage, a shimmering field springing up around him.

They pulled Anna to her feet, pushing her forward. He tried to step towards her. "Go easy on her," he demanded. They pushed her back onto the platform.

"Stand still."

"I—" Anna started, glancing back at Carth. "If you need me to — I need my hands —"

The Sith in charge of her guards ignored her, pulling at the ties on her robe. She took a step back, into another guard.

"I'm perfectly capable of —"

The guard she'd backed into wrapped his arm around her neck, a vibroblade pressing into her neck. "I recommend that you stay still and do as you're told."

"Anna, just —" Carth pleaded.

"I don't have much of a choice now," she replied, closing her eyes as they stripped her to her own underwear, robe and shirt hanging off her bound wrists. Her guard changed his grip, moving to hold onto her shoulders and using one hand to crane her head back as another Sith stepped forward, a syringe in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Carth demanded, attempting to take a step forward. He stopped when the torture field flared the smallest bit brighter.

Primarily because they weren't concerned about him, and possibly a little because no one cared to answer, the Sith ignored him. He pricked the needle into Anna's neck, a small gasp leaving her lips at the prick. In a swift movement they unbound her hands, pulled off her shirt and robe, and stepped out as the tech ignited her own field.

"I get the feeling they've done this before," she said, as some sort of alarm blared through the ship and the Sith hurried off.

"Are you all right?" She looked over, dimly able to make out Carth's worried expression through the forcefields.

"Yeah. Fine." She scrubbed her hands on her thighs.

"What happened?" Carth took an involuntary step towards her as she fell to her knees, catching herself on her hands.

"Drugs. It's supposed to sedate me, keep me from trying to draw on the Force." Her voice sounded slightly slurred and the slightest bit distant. "Probably make me more easy to interrogate too. I . . ." She shook her head like she was trying to clear it. "I think I'm just going to stay down here for a while."

"Oh." There went  _that_  plan. "So . . . six hours?'

She nodded. "Tell me what you know. I assume this is Karath's vessel?"

"Yeah." He paced the tiny surface of the cage, averaging one or two steps before having to turn. "I don't know what he's like now, but he destroyed the entirety of Telos and Taris. That should tell you enough."

"He knows you?"

"Yes. Very well." Carth sighed. "Better than I would have hoped."

Anna sighed. "We can always hope that they didn't find the ship. Maybe they landed, and someone in the spaceport mentioned the fi—"

The door slid back open, and they jerked to look. Anna's Sith guards came back in, and she shook her head when she caught sight of the woman slung over one of their shoulders. "So much for that," Carth said quietly. She nodded.

They watched as Bastila was stripped down herself, injected with likely the same drugs as Anna, then drug back into the last cage.

"She all right?" Carth asked, after the men had left.

"She should be. It looks as if she's just unconscious. Similar to what happened with us." Anna squinted. Her head felt foggy, heavy, like trying to touch the Force was harder than wrapping her mind around the things she was studying for the Jedi. Pain welled up behind her eyes, her neck started to throb— "I can't tell, Carth. I can't . . . It . . ." She rubbed her palms into her forehead, cursing her quickly developing headache. She collapsed back on her heels, resting her head in her hands.

"Stop," he said, holding his hand out towards her. "If it's just going to hurt you, stop."

Either way it was irrelevant, as Bastila stirred in the central cage and a low moan parted her lips. She pushed herself to her hands, shaking her head. "Hey," Anna said cheerfully, watching the other woman with concern that belied her tone. "You all right?"

She shook her head again. "Can't clear my head—"

"We're drugged," Anna explained. "I'm having the same problem."

Bastila nodded. "Right. I . . . Oh . . ." She looked up. "We'd feared that they'd found you."

"We were afraid they'd gotten you," Carth replied. "I see we were right."

She nodded again, pushing herself to her feet. She staggered slightly, reaching to stabilize herself on the field before she realized what it was and caught herself. "Oh, this is wonderful. Are you two all right?"

"Fine," Anna said.

"We may have a back up plan," Carth murmured, with a glance at the tech manning the boards. Anna nodded, confirming his statement.

"We may, as well," Bastila said. "And I assure you, we did not go easily."

"We didn't go as easily as they likely wanted," Anna said, forcing herself to her own feet. "I am slightly embarrassed at the ease, though."

"You are exhausted," Bastila replied, shaking her head. "I am not surprised. I just regret that they located us so quickly."

"Malak knew we were on Korriban." Carth examined the field again, feeling remarkably helpless. "He sent Bandon, and I have little doubt he was waiting for the  _Hawk_  to head off-world as a backup plan. It isn't your fault, Bastila."

"No, I-I know. I just wish that —"

The door slid open, cutting off whatever Bastila had wished. Their heads snapped over as a man stepped through, wearing the dark gray and black ensemble of a Sith officer, his step belying a career in the military — the same ease she watched in Carth's step.

"Well. Carth Onasi. It has been too long since we last spoke."

Anna swallowed, eying his insignia, then looked over at Bastila. Admiral. That could only mean —

This was not good.


	37. Chapter 37

"I see the recent months have not been kind to you, Carth. I hardly recognized you." Carth clenched his fists, but resisted the urge to respond. Karath noticed, and a corner of his mouth twitched. "Telos must have been a difficult blow for you. I knew that even as we began our barrage."

"I swore I'd kill you for Telos!" Carth snapped, finally unable to stop his outburst. "You attacked a civilian target without warning _or_  provocation!"

"It was a necessary act of war." He shrugged. "The Sith would not accept me until I proved that I had turned from the Republic."

"You son—"

"That's enough!" Anna snapped, cutting off Carth's retort. Karath half-turned to her. "I'm the leader of this mission. You will deal with me or not at all."

Carth stared at her, shaking his head. She ignored him.

"I lead this, just as she does. The Commander answers to us, Karath," Bastila added.

His eyes raked over the two women. Anna crossed her arms across her stomach. "Very well. Carth is an unimportant pawn in these events anyway." Carth's fists tightened. "Lord Malak  _is_  more interested in you."

"And we are loyal to the Jedi and the Republic. We will not aid you  _or_  the Sith. They will be destroyed . . . as will you, if you remain on this path." Bastila's voice managed to remain strong, though Anna wasn't sure how. She squared her shoulders, letting her arms fall to her sides.

Karath half-chuckled. "Yes, I am sure. But the dark Jedi interrogation techniques are hard to resist – or so I am told. Besides, I am certain your companion is not as devoted to the light as you are."

Anna clenched her fists by her legs. "My loyalties are not up for inspection by a man who destroyed an entire  _planet_  to get into the Sith fraternity."

Carth almost grinned.

"I am certain your defiance will greatly amuse Lord Malak when he arrives." He scanned her again. "He would probably reward me if I killed you outright, but he will wish to do it himself, given the . . .  _history_  you share."

Anna glared at him. "If you're referring to my habit of killing the people he sends after me, yes. He probably would."

"Oh . . ." Karath's face flitted through a series of emotions that Anna didn't need the Force to read. "You – you really  _do_ have no idea what's going on here, do you? This is too good to be true." His grin was almost sadistically evil, and Bastila shuddered. She had no idea how Anna was still glaring at him.

Bastila, finally, after months of holding it in, panicked.

 _We did not expect Karath to know. We did not expect to be captured. He . . . he won't tell her, he'll tell Malak first. Malak will tell her. We must escape before Malak arrives – she can't find out_.

Bastila hid her internal panic behind her calm Jedi exterior.  _This is_ not _helping._

"I will not deprive Lord Malak of the honor of telling you himself. Unfortunately, he is in another sector and will not arrive for some time. So I suppose I must suffice for now." He half-turned to the technician. "Activate the torture fields."

Anna bit her lip as their cells activated. It felt like thousands of tiny needles burrowed under her skin, worse than the stuns, setting each nerve battling against its neighbors for dominance. Bastila screamed next to her; Carth was making some strangled noise across the room. Anna refused. She  _would not_  scream. Her lip started bleeding, the taste of copper blending with sweat and unbidden tears.

"Stop." The lights and needles died down slowly. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath and released it in one slow, shaky exhale, her knees wobbling beneath her from the pain and the drugs. "They are of no use to me unconscious. Malak will appreciate any information I can give him when he arrives."

"Save your breath," Carth hissed. Bastila picked herself up off the floor, eyes closed, breath coming in short, harsh waves. "We won't answer  _anything_."

"Don't worry, I am counting on it. But your friend has proven to be rather flexible in the past." His glittering eyes turned to Anna. She glared back.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I am interrogating you, not the other way around!" he snapped.

"You don't sound sure of yourself, Karath," Anna answered, mouth twisting in a wry grin.

"Silence." He nodded to the technician, and Anna braced herself.

The lights never lit – not in her cage. Carth's cell lit in fiery light, and he let out a shocked yelp as pain overtook him. Over the roaring in his ears he could hear Anna yelling, cussing Karath in a jumble of harried, rushed languages. Fortunately, the field deactivated and he pried his eyes back open, fixing them on Anna. Her light, worried gaze was still on him and he quietly shook his head. She nodded, glaring back at Karath. He wore a smug, self-satisfied grin.

"Do you see what happens when you defy me?" Carth cursed Bastila in his head. She stood in between them, her face the picture of Jedi serenity. "Let us begin. Whenever you refuse, or you give a false answer . . .  _Carth_  will suffer."

Carth dug his nails into his palms. Anna was blinking rapidly. "I . . . why do you think  _I_  care what happens to him?" She was backpedaling quickly. "I only keep him around to fly the ship."

He knew what she was doing, but it didn't make the words sting less. Karath laughed.

"Do you think I am a fool?" Karath asked.

"Yes."

"You cannot tell me that you have traveled halfway across the galaxy with Carth and do not feel  _anything_  for him?" he scoffed. She refused to answer, and Carth braced himself as Karath nodded to the Sith soldier.

Anna closed her eyes, resisting the urge to claw at her ears as Carth's cell lit, the man inside screaming as his cells ignited into millions of tiny flames. It only lasted a few seconds – Karath nodded again and the cell deactivated. "Do you see what happens when you defy me?"

She cast a worried glance at Carth, who was weakly wiping sweat off his forehead. "Don't tell him anything!"

"You must not speak, Anna!"

"Silence!" Karath snapped, stalking to stand in front of Anna's cage. She glared up at him coldly, her face a calm, if strained, mask. "I tire of this. Where was the Jedi Academy at which you were trained?"

Anna shrugged, her mind spinning. "Oh, that's all you want to know? The location of the super-secret Enclave? It's on Alderaan."

"Anna! Why did you tell him?" Carth pleaded, catching onto her ruse. Bastila sighed, rubbing her forehead.

 _Of course she tried to lie_.

"Alderaan? A Jedi Academy on a planet of artisans and philosophers? You expect me to –"

"Well, the Jedi are rather philosophical, are they not?"

Karath sighed heavily, nodding to the tech. Carth's cell lit again.

To his chagrin he collapsed to his knees, pain finally overwhelming him. He lost track of whether or not he was screaming – his ears were roaring too much for him to hear, hands digging into his shorts so his nails stopped drawing blood on his palms –

And it was over. He panted for air, glancing sideways at Anna. She stared stoically at the Sith admiral in front of her. "You are a sadistic son of a bitch, Karath. There is a special level of the Corellian hells reserved for your kind."

"More empty threats. I've begun to expect them from this group." His face twisted in another grin. "This first question was a test. Of course Malak already knew of the Enclave on Dantooine . . . and do not concern yourself with its safety." He turned and nonchalantly paced toward the door, studying it. "Your precious Enclave is a smoldering ruin now, littered with the bodies of your dead Masters and Jedi friends."

Carth, wide-eyed, looked to Anna and Bastila. Bastila's mouth hung open, staring at his back. Anna remained cold.

"I do not believe you, Karath." Her voice was low, even. Carth swallowed. Karath turned, and for a second Carth thought he looked . . .  _intimidated_? That was impossible – Anna was restrained, there was an electrical field separating them, she was drugged, and she was in her _underwear_. Why would Karath – "And if it is true, you will pay for it. You and all the Sith."

Karath recovered quickly. "Ah, more empty threats. Perhaps, had they merit, you would be winning this war." He chuckled. "Tell me your mission, Kyjjl, and Carth will not suffer."

"What mission?"

"What plan did your precious Jedi Council have for you? How did they plan on using you to stop Lord Malak?"

Anna remained stoic, glaring at him in silence. Carth dug his knuckles into his forehead. He had no idea how she remained so . . . calm. He would have been screaming everything he knew if they'd been doing this to her, the way he would have done on Korriban if Uln had been torturing her for information rather than his own sadistic pleasure. Maybe he wasn't as important as he thought; maybe she truly–

She quickly rattled of a string of Mando'a, Rodian, and potentially a little Quarran as she informed Karath of certain inventive things he could do with a landspeeder, Malak, the Sith and a Hutt. Bastila jerked, her eyes nearly the size of saucers, and Carth pulled his head up in surprise. Even Karath took a step back. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Anna . . ." Bastila half-chided.

Again, Karath didn't speak. He simply nodded to the technician, who flipped a switch. Carth's cell lit again.

He had just picked himself back up, so it sent him crashing back to his hands and knees. His head felt like it was lifting off his shoulders, the roaring grew incompatible with consciousness and – had it gone on this long before? He thought it had been cut off before now the last times . . . it was impossible . . . he couldn't . . .

"Enough." Karath's voice was flat, level. Carth stayed on his hands, eyes closed, breath coming in short, agonized puffs. He was _not_  going to retch in the cell. No. No, no, no. "Do you see what happens when you defy me?"

"Nothing happens," Anna hissed. "Nothing except the continued tantrum of a little pet kath hound who's not getting his ears scratched."

"Set them all," Karath ordered. Anna clapped her hands over her ears as the fields ignited.

#

Karath had to force himself, sometimes, to remember that he was one of the few people who'd seen Revan without her mask. It'd been during the wars, not long after her Jedi had come into it. He'd been promoted and part of that position came with meeting the Jedi in charge.

He still remembered when he first had, though it'd happened more after that first occurrence. He'd been asked to meet with the Jedi newly placed in control of the war effort and so he had joined them in a conference room on his ship, where they'd taken up residence.

_Malak was sitting on one side of the cloaked Jedi, across from a blonde woman that Karath had seen once before. Revan's robes had yet to turn their midnight black, like they were during her duration as a Sith, and obscured rather than displayed the light armor hidden underneath. The characteristic mask displayed its two broad, black bands, rendering an impassive and intimidating visage as he walked through the door._

_"Have a seat, Admiral," the blonde Jedi greeted him, when Revan seemed too engrossed in a datapad to notice him. "Congratulations on your promotion, firstly."_

_"Thank you," he replied as he sank into a seat, feeling awfully on the spot._

_"I'm sure you recognize Revan and Malak, at least by name," she continued. He nodded. "I'm General Morace." The only Jedi to surrender to the Order after the war._

_"You've been put in charge, then?" Malak interrupted, disinterestedly examining a scar on his big hand._

_"Yes."_

_"Good."_

_"Yes." He nearly jumped when Revan spoke, voice hollow behind the mask - and this close, it bore the smallest hint of a vocabulator behind it. "That will—" It was cut in half by a quiet, barely perceptible sneeze. "Gods damn it."_

_Malak snickered. The mask moved as if in a glare, and with a sigh Revan's hands moved to unsnap the mask and its ties, carefully pulling it off and settling it on the table._

_Karath folded his hands in his lap, digging his nails into his leg. He hadn't expected a woman under that mask. Revan went to great strides to make herself seem male . . .perhaps because the Mandalorians would expect it, or perhaps because she merely found it easier to handle her soldiers that way._

_"Sorry," she apologized, a small, awkward smile crossing her face. "I apparently picked up a bit of a cold the last time we were planetside. It's getting a little difficult to breathe through that."_

_She folded her hands, affixing him with gray eyes that sparkled with both confidence and genius. "As I was saying," she continued, voice still thick with the sound of a cold. "Placing you into this sort of position will only have a positive effect on the war. You've accomplished much with very little very often, and that's the sort of initiative this war effort needs." She leaned back in her chair, tapping a finger on the table. "There are wheels in motion. I need to know that you are willing to do what must be done to end this war."_

_Karath watched as Morace's eyes had shifted off him to the table for the briefest second._

_"This war needs to end," he said simply. After all, they were Jedi. It couldn't be that bad._

_"Yes," Revan agreed. "Yes, it does."_

"Admiral, Lord Malak wishes to speak with you."

Karath nodded, moving quickly to his communciations terminal. Malak was dealing with a sudden outbreak of resistance in another sector, or it would have been his ship waiting for the  _Hawk_  rather than the  _Leviathan_. He pressed his button to connect to Malak's hail.

"The ship has been seized, Lord Malak," he said, as the Sith's face swam on the small screen. "I've placed Shan and Kyjjl in the high-security cells. They put up surprisingly little resistance."

:: _Good. Be prepared for more resistance, if they let themselves be taken easily. She will likely have a back-up plan in place._ ::

"I . . . have something I must tell you, my lord." Malak raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to continue. "She does not know who she is."

:: _She does not._ ::

"No. Or, I do not believe so. As far as I can tell, she truly believes herself to just be a Jedi."

Malak didn't answer that, one corner of his eye twitching. :: _I will be there in approximately six hours. I expect that nothing will go wrong._ ::

"Absolutely not, my lord."

#

Jolee checked the chrono he'd hidden in his undershirt.  _Five and a half hours_.

Mission was in the next cell over him, Zaalbar somewhere else in the  _Leviathan_ 's prison block. He had no idea where the others were, but he knew that it was time for the plan to start. And quickly. Mission had been harassing the guard stationed outside their cells the entire time, coming up with more and more inventive insults. It kept them off-balance, distracted, irritated. It was what he needed.

Jolee scowled. They didn't have time for this. Karath knew – most likely – what Revan looked like. Without the mask. So . . . Jolee rubbed his head. Had he told her? Did she know? This could be a really short trip if she did . . .

Five and a half hours. Time to move.

He stood, straightening his shirt. There was an equipment cache nearby – labeled 'Riot Control' or some-such – that should suit his purposes. Hopefully there wouldn't be many other guards. He was better at talking, not fighting. Juhani was their Guardian, after all, and she could be anywhere by now.

"Guard!" Jolee called. The man turned half-heartedly. "I need to speak with you."

"What, old man? You trying to cause trouble too?"

Jolee spoke carefully, powering his words with the Force. "It's too cold in this cell. You wouldn't want me to catch a chill, would you? You should let me out."

He could almost see the man's face slack behind his impassive helmet. "Yes. It's . . . It's too cold in there. We wouldn't want you to fall ill. Get out here." He palmed the force-field controls.

Jolee hurried out before the guard changed his mind. Once he cleared the field, he turned back to the guard. "You shouldn't have let me out, sonny. The Admiral's not going to be happy when he finds out. That was wrong."

"Oh, damn. Yes . . . what I did was wrong. Very wrong."

"You deserve to be locked up in this cell for disobeying orders."

"You're right. I deserve to be locked up for disobeying orders." The guard slowly wobbled into the cell. A smile pulled at the edge of Jolee's mouth as he closed the field back up. "Huh? What? How did I – damn you, old man! I'll kill you when I get out of here!"

"Then I'll be sure to never let you out. Goodbye, sonny." Jolee mock saluted, then brought down Mission's field. "How are you doing, Mission?"

"Been better," she replied, stepping out into the hallway and hugging him. "Can you tell how Anna and Bastila are?"

He closed his eyes, then shook his head. "No. I can't sense them through the Force." At Mission's worried look he added, "There are ways to disrupt a Force user's connection to the Force, however. I wouldn't be able to tell either way."

"So they could be okay?"

"Exactly. But we don't know if we don't get going. Come on." Jolee reached behind him, grabbing the guard rounding the corner with the Force and slamming him back into the wall. "We should hurry and find Zaalbar."

#

Bastila woke first this time.

Her limbs trembled as she tried to move them, and standing would have been nearly impossible. She managed to push herself up so she was seated, and looked around the room.

The walls still shimmered, and the tech still stood at the panel. Carth was facedown in his cage, still unconscious. She swallowed. That was not surprising, considering what he had been through.

She herself had been lucky, though the thought made her scowl.

Anna was sprawled in hers. Bastila could only see part of her face, but it appeared she had an intense nosebleed.

She waited for a while, staring at the door. Karath knew who Anna was – of course he did. That was unsurprising. It was complicated by the fact that he was Carth's nemesis, and so he would use that information to his advantage should that be necessary. That was something they did not need if they confronted him again – something that was nearly a guarantee. The Force seemed to be leading them into a confrontation with Karath – and a confrontation with Anna's identity loomed imminently behind it. Bastila swallowed.

To her right Carth groaned and stirred, pushing himself to his knees. "Carth," she said quietly. "Are you all right?"

"Never been better," he retorted weakly, still staring at the floor. "You?"

"I am in pain, but that is to be expected."

"How's Anna?"

Bastila shook her head. "She is still unconscious. They must have continued to torture her."

"Bastard." Carth scrubbed at his mouth with the back of his hand. "That doesn't surprise me."

"It does not surprise me either."  _Should I tell him? Or should we wait? We did not plan for–_

"Bastila, what was he talking about?"

Bastila jumped. "What do you mean, Carth?"

"He knows something about her. What is he talking about?"

"I-I am not sure, Carth." He stared at her. Bastila took a deep breath. "I-I cannot tell you, Carth," she finally admitted, averting her eyes to the floor.

"What the hell, Bastila?! Don't you think I deserve to know if something's going on here?"

"Carth . . . Carth, this is not the place. I-I promise I'll tell you everything, once we are off this ship."

Carth ran a hand through his hair. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Bastila."

"I know."  _And I know you won't like what I'm going to tell you_.

#

A series of numbers, digits, and images ran across the screen. Droids were not usually confused, but this was not a normal T3 model. It was spitting code at it, codes the other droid couldn't figure out – and that was impressive.

Most intelligently designed droids or a regular droid mechanic would have known that a situation like this required action beyond merely trying to access the T3's memory core, but this droid wasn't either. It didn't have usual higher-logical processes like many other droids. It was programmed to access a droid's memory core, and damn it, it was going to access that droid's memory core.

Diligently it tried again.

And found itself slammed into a nearby wall. Several of its circuits failed, and it deactivated.

T3-M4 cocked his head at it, then made a chirp that may have been a shrug. He rolled over to the other droid in the room and poked it with his shock arm. HK-47's sensors lit to life. "Diagnostic: Running. Complete. Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve."

:: _Come on._ ::

"Query: I found myself deactivated in the midst of a battle. I assume that this is the point where I stop the neural functions of numerous meatbags for that transgression?"

T3-M4 cocked his head, then chirped. :: _Something like that_.::

"Statement: You have much to learn about killing organics. Consider this your lesson." HK-47 checked the blaster rifle on the other side of the room. "Order: Follow me, Astromech."

:: _I should inform you that we_ had _a pla—_ ::

"Condescending Boast: As long as the plan involves blasting meatbags, I do not need further awareness of it." He prepped his gun and began to storm out the room. T3-M4 shook his metal top, whined, and followed.

Not far away from the two droids, just around a few corners, a morgue technician was calmly prepping the Mandalorian they'd pulled off the captured ship for autopsy. He moved more slowly than usual, eying the thick webbing of scars that laced the man's torso with awe. He'd never seen –

Blaster-fire erupted in the hallway, and he spun to the door. Without warning, a heavy, hard something slammed into the back of his neck, and he fell.

Canderous stepped off the slab, grabbing for the equipment on a nearby slab. "Better you than me," he muttered, stepping over the technician as he pulled his gear back on, rubbing off the Y-shaped row of dots across his chest as he did so. A quick check ensured that his cannon still repeated correctly. He patted the barrel fondly.

He kicked the controls for the door, and they shot open as what seemed like an entire platoon sprinted by for the commotion down the hall. They spun.

"Hey, he's armed!"

Canderous shot the speaker.

#

Juhani hid in the shadows around the elevator, watching the guards. She struggled to reach out through the Force to touch Anna and Bastila – no, they were still separated from the Force. Jolee was conscious, but still. She waited.

A brief flicker indicated that Jolee was on the move, manipulating the Force in some subtle way. Juhani began to pace towards where she felt him.

Not long after she moved, an alarm sounded.

" _Security Alert. Droid bay, Morgue. All hands_."

Juhani sprinted toward where she could feel Jolee, dropping her camouflage to clear the path between the elevator and the group. She only hoped she got there before he was overwhelmed.


	38. Chapter 38

" _Hey! You there! Old man!_ "

Jolee and Mission turned, purloined vibrosword and blaster ready in their hands. A Rodian waved frantically at them from behind a forcefield. "What?" Jolee asked.

" _You help me out, I help you_."

Mission glanced into the next cell, which was full of aimlessly wandering Rodians. "You're with them?"

" _Yes, I with them. We captured. They break captain's mind, then first mate, then down the line until only me left. You help me, I help you_."

Jolee nodded when Mission glanced at him, and she cleared her throat. "How are you gonna help me?"

" _Grabbed brig ICE breaker off guard. Can get you into computer._ "

Jolee raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "And the guard didn't notice?"

The Rodian half-laughed. " _Guard not very thorough in search, heh, heh._ "

They exchanged a disgusted glance, Mission's nose wrinkling at the idea.

"Deal." Mission opened the field. The Rodian offered Jolee the ICE, and he wrapped it in his shirt before taking t.

"Here," Mission said, throwing the Rodian a blaster.

The Rodian looked down. " _What is_ —"

"You're going to give us a hand." The Rodian stared at her incredulously. Or, at least, Mission figured that was the looks he was getting.

Jolee shrugged. "Or you can try to take on the guards by yourself, of course."

" _Okay. I come with you to hangar deck_."

An alarm wailed above them. " _Security Alert. Droid bay, Morgue. All hands._ "

"Come on." Jolee sprinted down the hallway, the Rodian tagging along after him.

They found Zaalbar a hallway away, and Mission handed him a vibrosword as he lumbered out of the cell. He accepted it, lifting her off the ground in a one-armed hug. " _Thank you_ ," he growled at Jolee. The not-Jedi nodded.

"Anytime." Jolee waved his hand.

Guards stormed around the corner from behind them, skidding to a halt when they spotted the group. Zaalbar reacted first, charging at the soldiers. Jolee pushed out through the Force, knocking part of the group back.

Between the blaster shots and the ring of vibroblades rose the  _hum_  of a lightsaber. Jolee almost froze, mind spinning with trying to figure out how to handle an unknown amount of dark Jedi, before a blue-colored blade flashed through several nearby Sith. "Juhani!"

"I am glad to see you are unharmed," the Cathar answered, engaging one of the soldiers. "Do you know of the others?"

"No idea 'bout the droids and Canderous, or the other three." Jolee parried someone off and ran him through. "Everyone else's with me. I think Canderous and the droids are responsible for the alarm."

"I believe you're correct."

The last soldier fell, and Juhani deactivated her lightsaber. "We should find them. I have been unable to sense Anna or Bastila through the Force."

Jolee cocked his head and focused. "You're right. I don't think they're dead, though."

"Neither do I. But we should hurry."

"Jolee, Juhani," Mission yelled. They turned, and she pointed down the hallway. "I think the blasters are coming from over here."

"Come on." Juhani and Jolee took the lead, running down the hallway.

The scene they came on might have been amusing, had the stakes not been so high.

Canderous and HK had ended up back to back, a fairly large pile of dead Sith soldiers around them. T3 was firing from next to Canderous, mainly aiming for feet and legs, chirping along in an almost sing-song manner.

"Statement: You are good, for a meatbag."

"Yeah you ain't too bad yourself, for a droid." Canderous slammed his elbow into the droid, almost an action of fondness, before swinging back and breaking the faceplate of a Sith grunt who'd gotten too close.

"Statement: We should do this again more often." HK shot a soldier who was trying to crawl away. "Explicit Threat: Stay still!"

"Canderous!" Jolee shouted as the stream of soldiers seemed to slow. "You all right?"

"Yep. I almost got autopsied though." Seemingly satisfied that the guards on their deck had been decimated, Canderous lowered his gun. "You?"

"We're all good," Mission said, with a quick glance around at them. "I think."

"Where'd we pick up a Rodian?"

"Query: Might I blast him?"

Jolee glared at HK. "No. He's sticking with us until we get to the hangar deck. We need to stop this alarm."

"I believe I passed a computer terminal," Juhani said, pointing towards the hallway she'd come through.

"T3. Take this and stop the alarm. See if you can find where our gear is. And get a status check on Anna and Bastila and Carth."

Juhani and the droid hurried off as another group of Sith guards fell on them. Jolee idly wiped his hand off on his shirt before gripping his vibrosword again.

#

"Is she awake yet?"

Bastila shook her head. "She must have been tortured long past unconsciousness."

The tech at the panel didn't confirm or deny, just stared down at the controls.

"Something must have happened, after we went down. She must have said something to him."

"Karath is not a loose cannon, Carth. Sadistic, yes, perhaps b-beyond redemption, but he is  _not_  stupid."

"Yeah, he might not be, but that interrogation was a sham. He knew the answers."

"I know. But I do not know if Anna does. It—it bodes well that she managed to resist his attempts."

Carth sighed. "There was a time I wished she'd just tell him. It . . ."

"I know, and I understand."

An alarm sounded. Bastila and Carth's heads jerked up.

" _Security Alert. Droid bay, Morgue. All hands._ "

"Thank the Force," Bastila said. "The droid must have woken up."

"T3? You trusted  _T3_  to do something?!" Carth dug his hands into his eyes.

The door in front of them slid open, and they both held up their hands as a large number of Sith stomped in, taking defensive positions in front of their cages. The duo traded a glance.

But the lieutenant leading them turned, closing the door behind him. "Stand ready, men. It might be a drill, but you know the Admiral's orders." They turned to face the door.

Carth closed his eyes.  _I hope they found weapons. A lot of weapons._

#

T3 plugged into the computer, the ICE breaker making a difficult hack easier. Juhani watched as he accessed security cameras.

"Can you stop the alarm?" she asked.

:: _If I can figure out where it is connected to the main system_.::

T3 flipped through files and cameras, finally locating the alarm. He turned it off, and the voice echoed back through the intercoms.

" _Security Alert Canceled. All hands return to stations._ "

"Good job." Juhani patted T3's metal top, and he chirped. "Can you see Anna and the others?"

T3 found the right security feed, and Juhani skimmed it. "Thank you. We should return to the others."

They hurried back, finding the others waiting in the hallway. The number of Sith grunts lying dead around them seemed to have multiplied. "I suppose that was you?"

"T3 did stop the alarm. I have also seen Anna, Carth, and Bastila."

"And?" Mission asked. Juhani shook her head.

"Carth and Bastila are all right, from what I could see. It appears that they  _have_  been tortured, but they are conscious. They are heavily guarded – undoubtedly due to the alarm."

They waited. Juhani finally conceded. "Anna is either unconscious or-"

"Then we have to get to them!" Mission said. "Come on!"

"Hold on. We need some sort of strategy," Canderous said, holding out his hand to stop them. "How many guards did you count, Cathar?"

"I counted fifteen, at the most."

Canderous skimmed. "Hell. Forget strategy. HK and I can take them out easy."

"Statement: I am looking forward to working with you again, meatbag."

The Mandalorian clapped the droid's metal shoulder. "Come on."

#

" _Security Alert canceled. All hands return to stations._ "

"What's that mean?" one of the soldiers asked.

"We stay here, as per routine. Security alert is canceled, and we guard the high security cells for at least fifteen after."

Carth glanced over at Bastila, who was still looking at Anna. "She's okay, right?"

Bastila shook her head. "I cannot reach the Force, Carth. I cannot sense her, or Jolee, or Juhani."

Carth squinted, finally catching the slight rise and fall of her back. "She's alive, at least."

There was banging outside, and the door slid open. Bastila and Carth ducked as soon as they saw a red, metal head and an enormous repeating blaster cannon.

"Threat!" HK said, not bothering to finish his statement before opening fire.

It only took a matter of seconds before the Sith soldiers were dead on the floor, the men hardly having time to react to the intrusion before the two mowed them down. The tech held up his hands as Canderous and HK turned their guns toward him.

"Don't shoot! I'm – I'm just a technician!"

"Lower the fields," Canderous growled, after he determined he wouldn't be able to do it himself. The tech spun back to the controls, frantically pressing a series of buttons. The fields disappeared as the others ran around, carrying the trio's gear.

"Are you okay?" Mission asked. "What's wrong with Anna?" She dropped down at her friend's side. Carth, still halfway through pulling his clothes back on, knelt next to her.

"I do not know," Bastila said, as Juhani knelt next to her.

"Are you all right?" she asked. Bastila nodded.

"They drugged us, that is all. I just need a moment." She wrapped her robe around herself and closed her eyes.

Canderous glanced back at the tech, swinging his gun back up. "What happened?"

He raised his hands higher. "T-the Admiral told me to stop hers so he could talk to her. S-she slammed him back into the wall. H-he told me to keep the field going until it was too dangerous – I stopped it before –"

Bastila's eyes shot open and she stared at him. "How did she get around the drugs?"

"I-I don't know! It happened so fast, I—"

"Bastila, you must focus," Juhani said chidingly. "Let me help you." She nodded and let Juhani take one of her hands, the two of them closing their eyes.

Jolee pressed his hand against on Anna's forehead. After a few moments she groaned and stirred, one hand going to her head. "Where am I?"

"You're relatively safer than you just were."

"Jolee?!" Anna finally opened her eyes. "You're okay?"

"We're all right," he answered. Carth helped her sit up. "But what did you do to get hit so hard?"

"Told Karath what he could do to himself. And what I'd do to him if . . . It doesn't matter." She rubbed her eyes with her palms, making her vision swim.

"Here." Carth handed Anna her robes. "How do you feel?"

"Well enough, I guess. Where'd all these dead Sith come from?"

Everyone pointed to Canderous and HK. Anna nodded, pulling her pants on. "Good work, HK."

"Statement: Thank you, master. I wish you would pair me with the Mandalorian more often."

"Eh. He's good. For a droid."

"What's the plan now?"

Anna cocked her head. "When did we pick up a Rodian?" she asked, ignoring Mission's question.

Jolee groaned, thankful that this was the last time he'd have to explain it. "He's only with us until we reach the hangar deck."

"Oh." She gave him a slight nod. The Rodian looked more uncomfortable with each successive person they found. "Well then. Carth, you're familiar with Interdictors, right?"

"Yeah."

Anna pinched the bridge of her nose. It was hard to think through a brain full of fluff. "Well, stick the tech in the force cage and we'll head out so he doesn't hear."

"Y-you aren't going to kill me?"

"Why? You're not armed, and you certainly aren't a threat."

"Dejected Statement: Of course he's a threat, Master!"

Carth and Canderous pulled the tech back into Bastila's force cage and Jolee pressed the button for the field. The others congregated in the front area. "Carth, what are Interdictors like?"

Carth paused. "Well, to get out of here, we need to shut down the docking bay doors."

"How do we do that?" Mission asked.

"That's the problem. The controls are located in one place – on the bridge."

" _We can't hack the controls from a terminal in the hangar bay_?" T3 chirped. Anna translated. Carth shook his head.

"No. The bridge is the only place where you can get the gates open. We  _could_  try to fly through them, but we'd probably just explode."

Bastila swallowed. "Whatever we do, we must hurry. I believe Karath sent his message a long time ago – and I feel Malak's presence growing. He is coming closer to us – and we must be gone before he arrives."

"Okay, well, we need a plan. We can't just rush the bridge." Anna applied more pressure to her nose. "Surprise and secrecy is best. Hopefully Karath is unaware that we've escaped. A small group of us might be able to sneak onto the bridge and pull the gates open while the others secure the ship. I-I feel well enough to lead a group to the bridge."

"I'm coming with you." Carth squeezed her arm gently, and she glanced up at him and smiled.

"Be careful, sonny," Jolee chided. "You might get your revenge, but there's more at stake here."

"I know, Jolee." Carth scowled.

"I will come with you as well. For something such as this, two Jedi will be our best chance."

"Jolee, Canderous, take everyone else to secure the ship. I hope you find yours – I'll try to open your bay as well if I see it," Anna addressed the Rodian. He mumbled something that may have been a thanks.

"Don't you worry about the guards. We'll take care of them."

"Agreement: I am looking forward to engaging in further unadulterated violence."

Jolee pursed his lips. "We'll meet you back at the ship. I'll make sure those two don't kill anyone unnecessarily."

"If you could also make sure the ship is ready to fly when we arrive, Jolee . . ."

"She'll be ready." Jolee handed Anna her lightsabers. A quick inspection showed that they were undamaged, and she nodded.

"Thanks. Now hurry up, before Karath grows suspicious and sends more men."

#

Canderous and HK stalked at the front of the group, Juhani and Zaalbar bringing up the rear. Mission was somewhere next to Jolee, blaster in hand. "Do you think they'll be okay? You know, with being tortured and all?"

"They'll be fine, Mission," Jolee assured. She nodded.

"Okay. I hope so."

Canderous pressed the controls for the elevator. "We should be prepared when we reach the hangar deck," Juhani said. "When I came through, there were several guards along the way to the ship."

"I doubt the alarm made it this far." They stepped into the elevator, the Rodian awkwardly standing as far away as possible from Canderous. "Besides, a few guards aren't going to be a problem."

"I did not infer that they  _were_ , I was merely –"

"Stop." Jolee's voice cut in. "We have to focus. There's more at stake than you two's bickering."

"You are right, Jolee. As usual."

Canderous grunted in something that might have been agreement as the doors slid open, pulling up his comm. "Anna, this is Canderous."

:: _Go for Anna_.:: She still sounded tired, but otherwise unharmed.

"We're just leaving the elevator on hangar level."

:: _We're up on the command deck. The bridge is still on lockdo—_ :: the sound of blasters echoed over the comm. :: _Son of a – Gotta go. Anna out._ ::

"We should have accompanied them. Storming the bridge would not have been the best plan, but effective."

"And alert the ship to our presence? Bad plan."

"It is a better plan than allowing three of our own to walk into a heavily guarded area after being –"

"Yeah, and those three people are the ones in charge of this mission, and they gave the order." Jolee's voice cut through again. "Force, I'm too old to be babysitting you two."

A patrol rounded a corner in front of them, and for the moment all of them forgot the previous argument as they fell back into battle.

#

Carth glared at the bridge door, magnetically sealed. Anna's face was still buried in the security panel. "I can try  _this_  combina— _ow_!" She jerked her hand back, shaking it. "I don't know, Carth. This thing's pretty sealed."

Bastila rubbed her forehead. "We do not have time for this. We need to reach that bridge."

"Tell me something we  _don't_  know, Bastila!" Carth snapped.

Anna stared blankly at the door as her two companions argued. "Didn't one of the computers I sliced into say something about maintenance access to the bridge via a catwalk –"

"You aren't serious! We can't go outsi—"

Anna pointed. "There were spacesuits back there in the armory."

Carth stared at her. "You're serious. You're _dead_  serious."

"We must reach the bridge, Carth. Malak grows closer as we stand here discussing."

"Anna –" Carth turned. She was gone. "Where'd she go?"

"I don't know. She should know better than to run off –"

"Here." Anna reappeared in the corridor, dragging a jumble of shiny gold fabric and helmets. "These looked about our sizes."

Carth threw up his hands. "This is insane. I—"

She threw him a helmet, making him scramble to catch it. "Grab it, flyboy, and stop complaining."

#

Canderous lowered his rifle as the last Sith trooper fell to their group. A wide window covered the wall to their left, just over a large console. He glanced through it, flipping up his comm as the others joined him. "Anna."

:: _Go for Anna_.::

"I've got eyes on the  _Hawk_. She's heavily guarded, but don't worry about that. We'll get her secured."

:: _Great. We just had to get around a door but we're about to the bridge. The doors should be ready to go shortly._ ::

"See you then."

:: _Kyjjl out._ ::

"Come on." Canderous flipped the comm back to his belt. "We've got work to do."

"Clear a path to the ship when we get down there," Jolee said. "I'll take Mission and T3 through to run over the ship and fire her up."

"You got it, old man."


	39. Chapter 39

"What are the chances that Karath is aware we've broken out?" Anna asked, studying the final bridge door.

"Almost a certainty."

"I would be surprised if he hasn't."

"Okay. Then we should walk in armed. Just in case."

Anna and Bastila's lightsabers, though still deactivated, immediately were in hand. Carth drew his blasters. Bastila reached for the door controls, and it slid open. Anna stepped through first, her eyes affixed on the front of the room.

Karath was framed in the windows on the bridge, blaster loosely held in his hand. Flanking him were two dark-robed dark Jedi, lightsabers deactivated. She felt Carth step close behind her, scanning the Sith soldiers that lined the room.

"Hope you know what you're doing, gorgeous."

"So do I."

"I'm impressed. You pulled together quite an effective team from the misfits we located on your ship. The nearly-dead Mandalorian was a nice touch, as was the invisible Cathar Jedi." She thought he seemed almost  _amused_. "I can only assume you had some hand in this, Carth. I taught you well."

"It wasn't  _my_  plan," Carth snapped. "And you taught me nothing but betrayal and death."

"Don't be foolish. We can negotiate a surrender, and –"

"You wish to surrender? Sure," Anna inserted.

Karath glared at her. "If  _you_ throw down  _your_  arms, I will ask my master to be merciful."

"I've seen enough of Sith mercy," Carth retorted.

"And I'm sure Malak would listen to  _you_ , since you're his pet."

"Anna!" Bastila hissed.

Karath sighed. "You always did like to do things the hard way." He paused, his eyes flickering to Anna. "Both of you." He half-turned to the Sith on his left. "You may kill Kyjjl and Onasi. Take the other alive."

The Sith guards had hardly moved before Anna sent her lightsaber flying, guiding it through several of the nearby soldiers. Bastila followed suit, pushing one of the two dark Jedi back through the Force. The other rushed Anna, and she parried him off as her saber returned.

Carth took down a few of the soldiers by the door with some well-placed shots and a frag grenade, returning the balance to Karath, his Jedi, and two guards against them. He glanced at Anna.

Both Bastila and Anna had already engaged their dark Jedi attackers, who were holding their own. Carth spotted Karath, still standing calmly at the front of the bridge, watching. Carth took aim –

A burning pain shot through him. He yelped, staggering to the side. A blaster bolt from one of the guards had managed to find a soft spot in Carth's armor, boring into his arm. He shot the offending soldier, landing a hit on his neck. He dropped.

Anna parried high, trying to get her opponent to leave his torso open. He dodged back, just out of her limited reach. She struck out, finding his red blade blocking hers, and swung with her off hand. He parried that, and she went to strike him around her back. There was another strike from him, wind from the attack making her hair move.

Carth yelped behind her. She faltered for a second, narrowly avoiding the Sith's lightsaber as he took advantage of her distraction.

 _I guess that's why attachments are bad_? Anna thought as she frantically parried him back.

#

"Go ahead, droid," Canderous muttered. HK leveled the enormous blaster cannon – Canderous was pretty sure it was a prototype A-D weapon – they'd located at a knot of Sith guards near the ramp.

"Statement: I am, meatbag."

"Hurry up. We've got to get the old man on the ship."

HK aimed and fired, the recoil from the gun jerking his metal torso. An enormous blaster bolt slammed into the knot, sending several of them flying. The others drew weapons. "There!"

HK and Canderous stepped out. "Come and get us!" Canderous yelled, opening fire.

A lightsaber ignited, and Juhani leapt out to the middle of the group. Zaalbar rushed at the other flank with his blades ready.

At the other entrance to the hangar, Jolee jerked his head. "Come on, missy."

Jolee, Mission, and T3 skirted along the back of the fray and disappeared into the ship. They dispatched a couple of Sith troopers in the main hold. "Mish, get their bodies off the ship. T3, look for any sort of explosives or tracking devices they might have on here. I'll get her warmed up." Jolee sprinted for the cockpit, and T3 rolled toward the engine room.

Mission locked her arms under one of the Sith soldiers' and grimaced as she struggled to pull him toward the ramp. "When did you guys get so  _heavy_?!"

Canderous and Zaalbar sprinted in at about that time. "This all of them?"

"That we found."

Canderous grabbed the soldier from her. "Tell the old man we're outside."

"Yeah. Okay." Canderous and Zaalbar disappeared with the dead soldiers, and Mission rubbed her forehead before starting toward the cockpit.

Yeah. They could deal with the dead guys.

#

_Three steps ahead._

That was what her father had always told her – she thought, since she couldn't remember a father but she seemed to connect that statement to someone paternal. Three steps ahead. That's how far ahead you planned anything – dejarik, pazaak, and _especially_  combat. Especially when you could die.

 _Dodge_. Anna stepped back half a step and leaned backwards, her enemy's red lightsaber slicing past her chest.  _Grab. Knee._  It was dirty and underhanded, but there was more at stake than fighting clean. She grabbed a fistful of his robe as his slice sent his arm far to the right, and jammed her knee into his diaphragm. He stumbled back.  _Stab_. She did, driving her blade through his chest. He fell.

A series of rapid shots echoed past her hip, and she dove to the side, scooping up her dropped saber as she did. She looked up just as Karath hit the floor of the bridge.

Carth dropped one of his blasters, clasping his hand over his arm. Dead soldiers littered the room, and Bastila was hurrying from her dead Sith to them. "Are you both all right?"

Anna beat her to Carth, pushing his hand aside. "Hold still." She almost tore the plate off his arm, and examined the burn. "It isn't bad."

"I know," Carth said, teeth ground together. "I've had worse."

She put her hands on the wound, drawing on the Force to mend it as well as she could. "There. You should get Jolee to look at it when we're done." She pulled out a medpac and rubbed kolto on it, hands moving carefully over it. "Do you have a bandage, Bastila?"

"Here." She handed it to her, and Anna wrapped it around his arm. "Just in case. How's that feel?"

"Good enough." Carth nodded as the kolto numbed it, and she gently rubbed his cheek with her thumb before she leaned in to quickly kiss him. He grinned at her, though it was tense with all they still had to do to escape, and nodded towards the front of the bridge. Neither of them noticed Bastila quickly looking away, taking a deep breath. "The console should be right there, by the –"

A quiet cough caught their attention from the front of the bridge. The Admiral moved. "Karath – he must still be alive," Bastila said.

Carth pulled himself to his feet, Anna following hurriedly. "He won't be for long."

"No, Carth. Don't do it." Anna grabbed his arm. "Stop."

"Have . . . something to tell you, Carth." Karath's voice was almost impossible to hear over the whirr of the bridge's machines, as he tried to crane his head to see where the officer was.

"You don't get it, do you?" Carth pulled his arm out of Anna's hand. "I can fix  _everything_  –"

"Killing him won't stop the pain, Carth!" Bastila protested.

"Carth, please,  _please_  don't," Anna pleaded. He pulled away from her again to start toward the dying Admiral. "Show him mercy – it's something he can't comprehend anymore."

With a brief glance back, Carth knelt next to him. Karath's voice dropped to a murmur, quiet enough that they couldn't hear. His posture changed dramatically as his shoulders tensed in – something? Anna looked over to Bastila.

Bastila looked panicked.

She glanced over at Anna, who was looking at her questioningly.  _It goes against all my teachings, but I should have told him to kill the Admiral while he had a chance! Now – now, he knows, and I can't . . . he's finding out from him, and not from me, and – oh, sithspit._

**_Bang._ **

Anna and Bastila both jumped. Carth stood, blaster held in a trembling hand. He'd turned several shades whiter, and Anna took a tentative step forward. "Carth?"

He spun, but not to her. "You knew!" he snapped. Bastila jumped, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her lightsaber closer, almost like a security blanket. "You knew this whole time – you and the entire godsdamned Jedi Council! And—"

"Carth, it's not what you think – we had no other  _choice_ , Carth! You  _have_  to believe me!" She was talking so quickly that the words were jumbled, nearly running together in her urgency.

"Then it _is_  true!" Bastila turned several shades paler.

"No, you don't understand, Carth, it's – it's not what you think!  _Please_  listen to me! You don't under—"

"Then  _make_   _me_!"

Bastila and Carth stared at each other, Bastila quite obviously startled out of her mind and Carth beyond furious. Anna swallowed. "What—what are you two talking about?" They turned to her, almost having forgotten she was there. Her voice faltered when she caught the expression in Carth's dark eyes - not the softness he'd started showing when he looked at her, but something hard, almost . . .  _hatred_? She swallowed again, then cleared her throat. "It's about me, isn't it? I'm tired of everyone keeping me in the dark. What the _hell_  is going on?" Her voice had grown by the end, back into its usual solid tone. Bastila shook her head.

"Not here. There's no time, Malak is on his way – this isn't the place," Bastila pleaded. "Carth, Anna, I'm asking you to trust me – to trust the Council. For just a little while longer."

Anna sighed heavily, stepping to the console. Carth hadn't moved. "She's right. This isn't the time. We need to get the  _Hawk_  off the ship."

"I'll trust you, Bastila,  _for now_ ," Carth growled as Anna punched into the computer. "But as soon as we're off this ship, I expect some answers." His tone was flat, level – more a demand than a statement.

"Of-of course. As soon as we get to the  _Hawk_  I promise I'll explain everything as well as I can. To both of you."

Anna finished opening the doors and stepped back form the console. "Okay. Let's get . . . let's get the hell off this ship."

She turned for the door, the awkward silence that had descended upon them prickling at her neck. It was weird, it was unwelcome. Saying that it confused her almost to panic would be an understatement. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

As they reached the elevator, the comm beeped. "Go for Anna," she said tonelessly as she hit the button.

:: _It's Canderous. Jolee's got the_ Hawk _fired up and she's ready to go. We just need our bosses and our pilot_.::

"Yeah. We'll be there soon." She couldn't put any effort into a witty jab, and it sounded like Canderous noticed.

:: _Uh . . . copy. Canderous out._ ::

Several decks down, Canderous put the comm back on his belt and shook his head.

Juhani studied the doors, waiting for more Sith troops. "Something is wrong."

"I know." Canderous adjusted his blaster, keeping it trained at the doors. He didn't like agreeing with the Cathar, but she was right. "Something happened up there."

"We should have asked for a casualty report."

"I think she would have mentioned that."

Juhani sighed. "You are probably correct. We cannot distract them any more."

"Yeah." Canderous glanced at HK as he paced back from the other side of the ship. "What?"

"Observation: It appears that another ship has entered our immediate vicinity. I believe it is sending a shuttle in our direction. Recommendation: We should be prepared for further resistance."

"Great," Canderous said, glancing over at Juhani. She nodded, reopening her golden eyes.

"Malak has arrived."

#

The hangar deck had fortunately been cleared out by their companions, so most Sith they saw bore the marks of lightsaber cauterization, blaster fire or vibroswords. They sprinted through, not wanting to waste any time. Both Bastila and Anna could feel something approaching them, and neither wanted to wait around to see just what it was – even though they already knew, and that knowledge only made them want to escape more quickly.

Bastila skidded to a stop down a sloping hallway, throwing her arm out. Anna caught herself just before she plowed into it. "What?"

"Focus."

Anna closed her eyes, and immediately pulled her sabers off her belt. Carth's hands fell to his blasters, and he took a deep breath.

"Malak," Anna breathed with a nod. "He's close."

"We may still be able to avoid –"

The door in front of them slid open, and the Dark Lord of the Sith himself stepped through. Carth gripped his blasters as Anna pushed Bastila behind her, blocking Malak's path to the younger Jedi.

"Darth Malak!" Bastila snapped from behind her, a hum indicating her lightsaber's ignition. Anna's thumbs tensed on the switches for her own.

Malak took another step toward them. Carth reacted, almost out of instinct.

"Down you go!"

A few deflections that he made look far too easy, a dazed pilot, and a force-push later, Malak was laughing.

 _Force_ , he was laughing. Anna swallowed, hands tightening on her lightsabers.  _Not good, not good, not good. Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. . ._

"I do hope you were not planning on leaving so quickly, Bastila," Malak said, voice low and tinny around his cybernetic jaw. "I have spent irreplaceable resources hunting you and your companions, and I had truly hoped that sacrifice would be worthy of something."

"Don't dare speak of sacrifice as if you understand it," she retorted.

"Sacrifice, yes . . ." His eyes skimmed Anna, yellowed irises finally meeting her own. She shuddered. "An indelible part of being a Jedi – even when they do not believe it's been given." She glared at him, gripping her weapons closer. She would  _not_  let him goad her. "I have heard you remember nothing of our time together – tell me, is it true?"

Anna remained silent, glaring. Carth glared at Bastila, whose eyes were locked on Malak. Her already parchment-white skin, just regaining color from the bridge, had faded even further. She took a step out of lightsaber range from Anna. "Malak. Do not –"

"Silence, girl." Malak extended his hand, and Bastila slammed back into the doorjamb. Her lightsaber deactivated just before it would have cut her in two. She pulled herself back to her feet as Carth stuck out a hand to help her up.

A  _hum_  reattracted their attention. Anna had dropped into her combat stance, lightsabers extended. "Do that again, Sith, and I _will_  remove your hands."

Malak rubbed his cybernetic jaw, unfazed. "Yes, well, that would not be a first."

There was a brief, deafening pause, broken by the clatter of deactivating lightsabers hitting the floor as Anna straightened and took a step back, eyes locked on him incredulously. Carth glared back at Bastila.

 _It makes sense._  Something whispered in her head.

_No. No one could have survived that crash. There were pictures on the holonet, it was a horrible attack, it –_

_Bastila survived it._ That small, nasty-sounding voice hissed in the back of her head.

_No. **You**  are Anna Kyjjl.  **You** 've only been a Jedi for a few months – don't let him use these tricks on you!_

The nasty voice reported back with more useless comments.  _. . . but what if you aren't, hm?_

Anna swallowed. "Shit." She didn't realize she'd spoken until Malak laughed.

"Then you remember, Revan!" Malak said triumphantly, another half-laugh masking his words. "Then you remember your time as the Dark Lord – and you realize that I've taken your place!"

Bastila finally met Carth's eyes as his glare transmitted a clear 'we should have taken care of this on the bridge' message.

Anna fell silent. For a long time. The ship creaked underfoot as it floated, dead in space. The communicator at her belt chirped repeatedly, but no one dared reach for it to answer Canderous' hails. She herself was frozen, one eyebrow cocked, staring at Malak blankly.

And then she laughed, a mixture of discomfort, incredulity, and awkwardness that would have sounded absolutely silly coming from Revan, but sounded quite normal for Anna herself.

After a long period of laughter and increasingly confused looks from Malak, Anna finally rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and caught her breath. "Aren't I . . ." she laughed again, struggling to cut it off. "Aren't I a little, well,  _short_  for a Sith Lord?" Anna took a deep breath, composing herself with some difficulty. She had yet to even look at Bastila and, for all appearances, it didn't even seem that she thought Malak could  _be_ telling the truth.

"All right. So first,  _everyone_  knows Revan was male which, the last I checked, I'm not. Secondly, I've seen pictures of the crash - no one could have survived that. Not even a Sith Lord. Thirdly, I see no reason for the Jedi to have captured Revan. Fourthly, and most importantly it . . . it can't be true. It just can't."

By then the color had drained from her face, her hand falling limply to her side from its position counting out points. Every point she made was coldly contradicted by her own logic. It wasn't difficult to make someone look male — binding of the breasts, mask over the face, loose clothing, lifts in the shoes in her case to make her appear taller. It was possible that Bastila or one of the other Jedi had gotten Revan to an escape pod before the explosion. The Jedi didn't kill their captives, and Revan would have been a valuable prize. Besides, they needed information. Information that they  _were_  getting . . . from  _her._

"And why  _not_?" Malak asked.

"It can't," she repeated weakly.

"You could always  _ask_." He motioned to Bastila. "Your  _handler_  is the one who captured you, after all."

Warily keeping one eye on the Sith, Anna half-turned to Bastila. She'd frozen in place, any color she may have had in her parchment skin faded away to sheer nothingness. Anna was sure she could nearly see through her skin if she tried. "Bastila . . ." Anna breathed, any last shreds of hope flickering away in a blink.

"Anna, I . . . I . . ." Bastila stuttered, her eyes flashing between Anna and Malak, and then obviously something in her surrendered. Her shoulders slumped the smallest bit, and she looked away. Her voice suddenly dropped almost to a whisper. "Y-your real name isn't Anna Kyjjl. I-It's Revanna. Revanna Galon. Y-you shortened it, during your training, and—"

Easily shortened both to  _Revan_  and to  _Anna_. She swallowed heavily.

"My team and I were sent to capture you. Our bond was formed when I saved your life."

She blinked stupidly in reply, staring at her. "But I — the amnesia, did they —"

"No!  _No_ , your mind was badly damaged. They merely covered up whatever memories may have remained, and created you a new identity. But your injury on the  _Spire_ , it reversed all their work. You lost at _least_  your new memories — perhaps more."

She stood still, what seemed like an enormous weight suddenly pressing on her shoulders. Her eyes flicked to meet Carth's, his keeping a steely, cold glare on both her and Malak. That was what Karath had meant, what he'd told Carth that had suddenly ripped him away from her. The visions, the map on Kashyyyk that seemed to know her, the ease with which she progressed through Korriban — everything.

"They used me," she whispered. "And so did you."

Bastila couldn't reply.

"They destroyed you! Used you to bring down your own empire, Revan — the one I strengthened by casting you down!"

" _Excuse me_ ," Anna snapped, whirling on the much larger man with one hand raised. "I am  _talking_ , and  _not_  to you."

After a step back that surprised her, Malak laughed. "And there it is. The arrogance and superiority. I wondered if the Jedi had ripped it out of you as well."

"The lasted I checked it was not your concern," Anna retorted. She took a deep breath as she looked back to Bastila. "Why didn't you  _tell_  me?"

"Don't you think I  _wanted_  to?  _Force_  did I  _ever_  want to. But the Jedi — the Jedi were afraid —"

"They did not want you to realize your full potential!" Malak interrupted. "The power you'd had before!"

Bastila didn't argue so Anna assumed that Malak was right, though she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. "Okay, so be that as it may . . . The rest I think I can figure out. They needed knowledge of the Star Forge, but if Revan — if Revan was too damaged, that knowledge would be lost and recreating the memories too dangerous so . . . so that became . . .  _me_." Bastila nodded. Malak scoffed.

"Well, in that case," Anna continued. "Under the circumstances I'd say you had little choice."

"Forgiveness? I wouldn't have expected this from you," Malak barked. Bastila nodded wordlessly, her head lowering. Anna spun back to Malak, igniting her lightsabers.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," she said pointedly. "I have a ship to catch, and you're in my way."

Carth swallowed. There was a calm stillness in her voice as she issued her challenge. Bastila didn't look concerned, but she was also still in shock from being told that Anna had no issues – currently – about the fact that she'd essentially ruined her life. Eternally.

Carth himself was unsure. But there was a chance that Anna was still there – and he couldn't let Malak kill her. Not yet. So he raised his blaster.

Malak caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He jumped out of Anna's reach and pushed his hand out. Carth swore as his limbs froze, the Force sealing him in place, tingling across his body. He'd experienced it before, and he hadn't liked it then, and he certainly didn't like it now.

There was nothing pretty in the ensuing duel. Anna was usually a superb, calculating duelist – but as Bastila and Carth found themselves frozen she charged the far larger Sith with what Carth could only describe as the insanity and determination of a tuk'ata mother protectingher young.

Anna knew how she was fighting – she attacked Malak for a multitude of reasons, half of which could have easily ended up with her itching for flowy black robes and an Interdictor to call her own, especially now that she knew it'd already happened once. She didn't care. Carth might hate her, Bastila might be too shocked to really be useful, but Malak was stasising  _her_  people and that was something she would  _not_  allow.

Something in the ferocity of her onslaught startled him, and Malak quickly switched from toying with her to flat-out trying to kill her.

Malak finally brought his blade down onto her head, and Anna blocked with a parry strengthened by the Force. Her on-hand blade skipped across his abdomen as he swung. He stepped back, and Anna pressed forward, pushing his lightsaber off hers –

And found herself approximately ten feet away as Malak fled back through the door.

She groggily stumbled to her feet, past the still-stasised forms of her friends. A weak hand tested the door's mechanism – sealed. With the Force. She glanced back at the other two.

They were safe.

The hall to the right was the one she took, steel clinking under her boots as she tested the next door – also locked. The chirping at her belt finally forced her to pull the comm off it and answer. " _What_ , Canderous?!" she snapped.

There was a pause. :: _Shit, Anna, you get up on the wrong side of the torture cage? Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to get you on the comm for the past ten min—_ ::

"We ran into a complication."

:: _We know. We've been repelling Sith left and right. You three getting hit hard?_ ::

"You could say that. Big gun, both barrels. Out."

:: _Wait—_ ::

She clicked the communicator off, snapped it to her belt, and tested the next door. It slid open, and her sabers lit as Malak flicked his out. "What, do I scare you?"

He brought his weapon down on her, and Anna blocked. "Don't worry, Revan. I don't plan on killing you. Yet, of course."

"You won't turn me, Malak." He blocked her return strike and answered with another of his own.

"I never said I  _wished_  to turn you."

Anna was proud of how she was doing. Here she was fighting a Sith Lord – seriously – and she  _hadn't_  died in two seconds. Granted, she was Darth Frakking Revan, so it wasn't quite the shocker she'd thought it would be, although she was fairly sure that the fact that she  _was_  Revan hadn't exactly taken the time to sink in yet. But Malak was good – too good – and he was certainly too strong physically. Her initial rage and over-protectiveness had disappeared, and her focus returned to scrutinizing his attacks like with all her duels – but even with only one lightsaber he rarely left himself open. That was strange. Most dark Jedi opened themselves up within several seconds of attacking – and apprentices were even worse. There was probably a reason he was the current Sith Lord, and she figured his ability to keep his guard with one weapon had some role in that.

A bad hit on her off-hand lightsaber sent it flying toward the hangar doors, unigniting as it clattered to the floor. Both changed their grips – hers for security, his for strength – and he swung.

Whatever he powered the swing with, be it the Force or the inhumanly sized muscles he sported, it broke through her Force-powered parry. Something snapped in one of her wrists, and she just had enough sense to dodge as a return swing nearly sliced her in half. The tip of his lightsaber caught her shoulder, skipping across her chest. Pain exploded through her as she staggered back, awkwardly wielding her remaining weapon.

So much for not dying at all.

She hoped the other two had the sense to get to the  _Hawk_  and get the hell out of Nar Shaddaa, so-to-speak.

She was correct in assuming that the stasis fields had long disappeared. Bastila grabbed Carth's arm. "Go around to the right, like she did." He pulled out of her hand. "Listen to me," she barked, all trace of a terrified Padawan replaced by that of a Jedi facing unknown odds. "I know what Revan means to you, and I know what Anna meant to you. You must understand – she may be our greatest risk, but she's our only hope. She  _must_  leave this ship alive."

"Yeah." Carth muttered tonelessly, sprinting down the hall after Anna. He followed the sounds of lightsabers and rounded a corner in time to watch as the tip of Malak's lightsaber sliced down Anna's torso, and she stumbled back. Her left arm hung limply at her side, and she weakly held her remaining blade out at Malak. He started to bring his down in a blow that would easily break her parry, and probably split her body in two.

Carth raised his blasters and fired. Anna took the distraction to move, using the bought seconds to dull the pain in her arm and chest and grip her lightsaber more firmly.

Malak easily caught him in time and deflected the blasts with his lightsaber, leaving Carth to dodge. With his other hand he locked a slowly advancing Anna in a stasis field before slamming her back into the wall like a doll with what sounded like several hundred pounds of Force.

"You always could inspire loyalty," he snarled in her general direction as she slid limply down the wall, head lolling to the side. Carth fired again. This time, one of his bolts caught Malak square in the arm, and the Sith stumbled back. He started for him, hefting his lightsaber –

A door opened, and a bright yellow beam of light flashed. Malak turned just in time to duck Bastila's lightsaber as it boomeranged back to her. "Get her to the  _Hawk_ , Carth! I'll hold him here! Go!"

Malak disappeared to reappear steps away from Bastila, crashing his saber down on her. Carth sprinted forward, eyes locked on the Jedi with the clear intent of coming to her aid. She blocked Malak and pushed her hand past the Sith as Carth nearly reached the door.

It slammed closed.

Carth stopped dead, glancing back at the pile of limbs and torso that was Anna. She had managed to get to her knees and a hand, but didn't seem to be able to make it the rest of the way.

"Don . . . gotta take care f'Bastila." She tried to drag herself in the direction of her closest lightsaber. "Gimme . . . gimme li'saber, I see wha' I . . ."

He never got to hear what she was going to do as she collapsed weakly to the floor, eyes fluttering closed. Carth grabbed one of her dropped lightsabers then hefted her over his shoulder as he ran for the hanger, picking up her other lightsaber from where it'd rolled.

Carth rounded a corner and had never been more excited to see the  _Hawk_. Canderous, Zaalbar, HK and Juhani finished off another Sith group as he ran in. "What the  _hell_  is going on, Republic?!" Canderous yelled as he spotted him. "Where the hell's the princess, and what's wrong with  _her_?!"

"Recrimination: What have you done to the master, meatbag?!"

"Not now!" Carth dumped Anna into Zaalbar's arms and tossed her lightsabers to Juhani before sprinting for the cockpit. "Ordo, I need you on the guns!"

"Yeah. Whatever." Canderous headed for the guns as Zaalbar carried Anna to the med bay. Juhani slammed the ramp closed as more Sith sprinted into the hangar. Carth pulled the  _Hawk_  back, small-arms fire pinging against the ship's hull. A blast rocked the hangar as Canderous fired at a knot of Sith soldiers.

" _Canderous_!" Carth yelled into his headset. The Mandalorian was too busy cackling as he whirled the ship's guns toward the small fighters heading their way to listen.

#

Bastila slammed back against the steel wall, turning away as Malak came within several inches of her face. His lightsaber _humm_ ed close to her throat.

Her lightsaber was within view . . . she struggled to push her arm out for it, calling to it – it was wiggling –

Malak eschewed the Force and lifted her up against the wall, one hand wrapped around her throat. All thoughts of her lightsaber aside, Bastila's hands leapt to his wrist, struggling to break his hold. "Let go of me," she gasped, tightening her grip, long fingers feeling for the pressure point that –

He obliged her, tossing her to the side. Bastila slammed into the other wall, sliding limply down it. She tried to pick herself back off the floor, but was too stunned to get her legs to cooperate. Her breath came in short, agonizing waves, forcing out the ribs she knew he'd already broken at some point during their fight – one of the many times he'd caught her off-guard and pushed her into a wall, not to include the toss a few seconds ago –

Malak's saber flashed at her throat. She pressed herself back against the wall, some of the heat retreating as she distanced herself from the blade. Two dark Jedi – ex-Jedi, as Anna would call them – had appeared at some point during their struggle, content to let their Master take care of the upstart Jedi.

"Get her to her feet and take her back to my ship," Malak ordered. "Take her to the medical bay and have the droids fix whatever injuries she may possess. Then bring her to me on the bridge."

And with that Malak stepped away, walking toward the hangar-bridge elevator. The two dark Jedi rushed forward, pulling her to her feet. The movement put pressure on one of her several injuries, and she quietly cried out. They ignored it, jerking her arms behind her and snapping binders onto them.

"Move it, Shan," one of them snapped as her pace through the hangar deck failed to live up to their expectations. She forced her steps to match theirs, pain ricocheting through her body with each step.

They finally reached the shuttle, pushing Bastila into one of the seats and taking up position on either side of her. "Take us back to the ship, and return for Lord Malak," one of them commanded. The pilot saluted.

Bastila closed her eyes, letting her head drop onto her chest.

 _There is no emotion_. . . her lips started, breath coming in ragged, painful waves.

In what seemed like hardly any time at all, she was being hauled back out of the shuttle, marched through several lines of sneering soldiers and dark Jedi, and into another elevator.

The medical droids in the med bay didn't take too long in fixing her injuries - perhaps only a few hours, despite several broken bones and few spots of internal bleeding (indicating that her previous assessment had probably been more pain-induced than reality-induced), and she soon found herself sandwiched between the two dark Jedi once again as she was marched into the bridge.

Malak was waiting for them, his back to them as he stared at the lame  _Leviathan_  across the way.

"You are a fool," Malak said as they drew to a halt. "You knew you had no chance against me, and yet you stayed."

"They are away," Bastila said calmly. "I've done what I intended."

He turned to her, and she refused to flinch. "Leave us."

The dark Jedi who had escorted her bowed and returned to the doors. Malak strode forward, roughly seizing her jaw.

"There is  _nothing_  you can do to me," she said. "I will not serve the darkness, nor will I serve  _you_."

"I have little doubt you will," Malak replied. His fingers tapped her jaw. "But the enjoyable part . . . that will be in the breaking."

Bastila was suddenly pulling herself off the floor several feet away, her breath coming in short spurts. She looked back up at Malak, forcing her face to an expression of serenity that would have make Vrook dance.

Malak's reply was to turn, casually tossing his hand over his shoulder. Bastila closed her eyes as lightning arched into her.

The next she knew she lay curled in a fetal position on the floor, gasping for air, her throat hoarse. Whether it was Malak's power or a continuing weakness of the day's torture, Bastila didn't know. But she had  _never_  been subject to a lightning attack  _that_ bad.

"Take her to the cellblock." Malak turned, eyes glimmering as he affixed Bastila with them. "Young Bastila will need her strength."

The two dark Jedi jerked her to her feet and drug her out of the bridge.


	40. Chapter 40

"We're on course for Nar Shaddaa. We can restock and reassess there, provided we don't get knifed in the back while we're doing so." Carth strode from the cockpit hallway to the dispenser, grabbing water. "Any word from Jolee?"

"She got banged up pretty bad," Canderous said. "What the hell happened?"

"And where's Bastila?" Mission asked.

Carth skimmed the crew, their eyes all focused on him.  _Malak. Anna. Revan. Bastila. Saul_. They were all names, all names that had just ruined his life. Again.  _Just_  after it had started to look better. "We ran into Malak. She—" he jerked his finger toward med bay. "—ended up taking him on herself. That's how  _that_  happened. Bastila stayed behind so we could escape."

"She's dead?!" Mission asked, eyes widening. Juhani shook her head.

"No. Malak will use her battle meditation to fight the Republic. He will not kill her. He will turn her." She looked back to Carth. "There is something you are not telling us, Commander."

Carth grunted. "We'll be on Nar Shaddaa by morning. Someone check the holonet for news on Dantooine."

"Dantooine?" Juhani asked.

"Yeah. Dantooine. See if there's any reason for us to render aid."

"What happened to Dantooine?!"

Carth kicked himself. He'd forgotten that only Anna and Bastila had the honor of being told. "The Sith attacked it. Saul said the Enclave was destroyed."

He slammed his glass down on the counter and retreated to the cockpit.

They traded a look. "Whatever happened ain't good," Canderous said. "And I'm not talking about Dantooine."

No one bothered to comment on how unnecessary that statement was.

#

"We'll put down in the Corellian Sector," Carth said. Canderous studied the planet in front of them. "Everything's just as sleazy and probably more expensive, but I have a feeling there's less likelihood of us getting backstabbed than in other sectors."

"Whatever. I only went through here for about three months. Didn't see much of the city."

"I'm surprised. I would have thought you'd stayed here longer."

"This place is a cesspool. Why anyone would come here beats the hell out of me."

"Hiding. That's why." Someone hailed them, and Carth responded with a request to land. "Think about it. Even if Malak followed us, or wasn't probably taking Bastila back to the Star Forge, this would be the last place he'd look."

"You have a point, Onasi."

Whoever Carth was talking to directed him to a landing pad, and he set the  _Hawk_  down. "I'm thinking that you, me, Juhani, and Zaalbar'll go out for supplies. Jolee will want to stay with . . . Anna, since she apparently hasn't come around yet . . . and I really don't want to take Mission out on Nar Shaddaa."

Reasons didn't need to be specified. "Yeah. I don't think that'd be a good idea."

"Not at all."

"And we should leave HK to guard the ship."

"Probably also a good idea."

They quickly explained the situation to the crew, who agreed. Heavily armed, the group leaving to restock did so, closing the ramp behind them.

Jolee returned to med bay, checking the machines. Physically, Anna was fine. That lightsaber score across her chest would sting for a few days, but her wrist and several ribs had only taken a little finagling with the Force to fix. Somehow she'd managed to keep her head from slamming into the wall like the rest of her body even through the stasis, so she had only been forced into a slight concussion from the impact. He had figured it was the pain that kept her out. He used the scanner to take another look at his work. Fine. Everything was fine.

So why wasn't she awake?

Jolee pursed his lips, shaking his head. "I have to do everything around here," he grumbled, setting his hand on her forehead and giving her a brief nudge through the Force. A groan escaped her, and she stirred. "Lay still. You're on the  _Hawk_."

"J-Jolee?" Her eyes cracked open, and she looked up at him blankly. "Wh-where are we?"

"Carth landed us on Nar Shaddaa. We needed to restock. Sith got rid of a lot of our supplies." He glanced out the door as a gizka bounded by. "Left us the rodents though, for some reason. Locked them all in the cargo hold."

"Carth . . ." She seemed to be moving a little (a lot) slower than usual. "Carth hates me."

Jolee scoffed. "Don't be silly. Why would Carth hate you?"

"'C-cause I'm Dar' Revan."

Jolee leaned against the medical console with a sigh. "Malak told you, did he?"

Anna pushed herself half-upright, quickly regaining mental clarity. "You—you knew?"

"Course I knew. Swirling Force and all that." Jolee waved his hand. "Better that you know, if you ask me. Damn Jedi messing around with stuff they don't understand – bah."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She almost seemed back to a functional state. Almost. Jolee shrugged.

"Wasn't my place. Now, if I knew Malak was going to go off and tell you himself I  _would_  have mentioned it. You do appear to be taking it rather well."

Anna dropped back to the cot. "I don't know, Jolee, it's like . . . it makes sense. Like it fits. It explains everything." Jolee nodded, offering no further advice. "It feels . . .  _natural_ , even. But at the same time . . . Force, I wish it wasn't true. But it doesn't really change anything. We've got to find the Star Forge, we have to save Bastila, and I . . . I can't think about it yet."

Jolee handed her a spare set of robes. "Here. There's no use chatting about this while you're in your underwear."

Anna nodded, and Jolee helped her when she got to her tunic. "What's wrong with me this time?"

"Malak slammed you back into a wall, apparently. Also got you pretty good right here." Jolee made a slashing motion across his chest. "You're probably fine, but I'd recommend you use a sling for a few days. And no heavy fighting. But we're heading to Manaan, so I don't think there will be much call for heavy fighting."

"Yeah. Manaan." Anna struggled to tie her robe. "And then we're hopefully off to the Forge."

Jolee looped a sling around her neck, tucked her injured arm into it, and helped her stand. She wobbled a little, but didn't fall over when he let go. "All seems to be in order, missy."

"Thanks, Jolee." She gave him a weak smile. "I, uh, I believe I'm going to go be Jedi-like and try to center myself. Can you . . . can you direct the Commander to put us into hyperspace toward Manaan and then gather the crew in the main hold? We should . . . we should tell them."

"Go ahead. I'll take care of it." Jolee opened the door for her, and she hurried toward the women's dorm before Mission or HK could see her. Jolee sighed.

"I'm gonna end up on suicide watch again."

#

Juhani tapped on the door to the women's dormitory. She received no answer, so she slid the door open.

Anna was cross-legged on her bunk, one arm in a sling, eyes tightly closed. As she walked in, Anna quickly rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. "So everyone's back?"

"Commander Onasi put us into hyperspace toward Manaan, as you requested." She sat down on the edge of her bunk. "Is everything all right?"

She opened her eyes, giving the Cathar a weak smile. "No. Nothing's all right, not any more."

"Is there anything –"

"No. I-you'll know soon enough." Anna pulled herself off her bunk. "Come on. There's something I-I need to tell everyone."

Juhani followed her back to the main hold, confusion bubbling under her usually stoic exterior. Canderous had been right – something had deeply affected Anna on that ship. And not only had it hit her, it had done something to Carth as well. This was troublesome.

Anna limped into the main hold, drawing to a halt as their eyes turned to her. Only Carth was missing now, and she jerked her head at the cockpit. "Someone get him."

Jolee disappeared toward the cockpit. With a heavy sigh, Anna sank down at the table, staring down at its surface blankly. Carth and Jolee reappeared, Carth leaning in the doorway of the cockpit hallway as Jolee joined them at the table. Jolee glared at him.

"What happened on that ship?" Canderous demanded. Anna jumped.

"There's been a, uh, development, as I'm sure you're aware," she started. Her eyes remained affixed on the table, voice level and flat. Tension escalated dramatically in the hold. "The first, and most obvious, is that Bastila is not here. She stayed behind in order to facilitate our escape, and Malak's probably working her over as we sit here." Her less-injured hand pushed a piece of loose hair back behind her ear.

"Isn't there something  _else_  you should tell them?" Carth asked pointedly. Anna leaned forward on the table, digging her face into her palm.

"What does it matter?" she murmured.

"What does it  _matter_?" Carth laughed, a harsh and unforgiving noise. "I don't know,  _Revan_ , what  _does_  it matter?"

"Wait." Mission spoke first in the awkward ensuing silence, her eyes wide. "You just called her Revan."

"Revan's dead," Canderous said. "The princess killed her, as she told us repeatedly."

"Well she lied to us." Carth was pointedly venomous. Anna palmed her forehead harder. "That's Revan, right there. Karath, Malak, and Bastila all confirmed it."

They mostly looked dubious, so Jolee cleared his throat. "He's right. Bastila told me everything back on Kashyyyk. Why else do you think I came along?"

"And you didn't  _tell_  us?" Carth demanded. Jolee shrugged.

"It's not like you needed to know at the time."

"So . . . Do you remember anything?" Mission asked. "Anything from being Revan?"

Anna shook her head, not even bothering to look up. "Just the dreams — the visions when Bastila and I would see the maps, it was my memories."

"All right. So you aren't playing a trick?" Canderous leaned back, chuckling. "Well hot damn. Wasn't expecting this."

Carth looked furious. "You can't just tell me you're all  _fine_  with this?!" Anna lifted her head in time to watch the series of shrugs and nods from the rest of the crew. "Revan gave the order for Telos and — Mission, you saw what happened to Taris, and —"

"Hey!" Mission protested. "Anna's not like that. She said she doesn't remember anything. She's one of us, Carth!"

"Besides," Canderous interrupted, linking his fingers behind his head. "If anyone should be upset, it should probably be me. My panties aren't in a knot, are they Republic?"

"You aren't upset?" Anna asked tentatively. Canderous laughed.

"Hell no. You were the best warrior my people ever had the honor to fight.  _Meeting_ you is an honor — fighting alongside you, well . . ." He shrugged. "I shouldn't have to go on."

"Now that Ordo's gone insane, can we be  _serious_?" Carth asked, still glaring furiously. "How are we supposed to know if her memories —"

Anna stood, storming over to him and whipping his gun out of his holster. In one move she'd pressed it into his hand, then the barrel into her chest. "Then do it," she said quietly, her tone low. "Do it, Carth."

"Just tell me this." Despite whispering, his voice was loud in the now-silent room. Mostly everyone had made it to their feet, prepared to step in if anything happened. "Everything we talked about. Everything you said. That — everything that happened on Korriban. Does it matter?  _Did_  it matter?"

Anna opened her mouth to reply that of  _course_  it did, that no matter who she really was she'd fallen for him hard and that would never change, but her voice seemed frozen. She swallowed the bile rising in the back of her throat, stinging at her tongue, then dropped his hand and hurried from the room. Carth huffed and reholstered his gun, storming back towards the cockpit. With a sigh Jolee left, Mission and Zaalbar following suit, and Canderous headed back towards the garage with a quiet chuckle.

No one noticed HK still in the storage room, red eyes dim as his systems rebooted.

#

Juhani carefully opened the 'fresher door when she passed, a muffled sound catching her attention. Anna was slumped next to the toilet, half in the small shower, hair and robes mussed and hand resting on her forearm on top of the seat. The glass from the small mirror was broken and scattered on the floor, and she carefully swept it aside with her boot. One of Anna's hands was pricked with small shards, blood trickling unattended down her fingers.

"Are you all right?" she inquired, receiving a quiet moan in reply. Juhani quickly paced to her side, dampening a washcloth in the sink and handing it to her. Anna drug it across her face, weakly lifting her head.

"Thanks. And no," she murmured, dropping her head back to her arm. Juhani carefully reached across her, slowly drawing out one of the shards. The other woman winced, but didn't move.

"Anna, it — it is not important. Who—"

She retched into the toilet again, lack of food rendering it instead into dry heaving. Juhani rubbed her back until the tremors ceased, and she collapsed back onto her arm. "It  _is_  important," she protested, scrubbing her face with the cloth. "I'm  _Darth Revan_. I—"

"No. You  _were_. That is the difference. And the people you saved as Revan . . . they must count for something." She continued picked the glass out of her hand.

"I think the number of people I've killed makes up for  _that_ ," she replied ruefully. "Hell, Juhani, this entire  _war_  is my fault. I created this. I  _made_ this."

"And now you have decided to  _stop_  it." Juhani's hand still rubbed her back. "And Revan did just as much good as bad. You  _must_ realize this."

"A lifetime of good deeds won't make up for destroying worlds, Juhani."

"Perhaps not," she agreed. "But perhaps it will. Either way, the Force will be the judge of that, not you or I."

Anna swallowed, still not raising her head. "I . . . but what if my memories return? What if I fall again? What if we find the Star Forge and I decide to reclaim it? I-I'm too dangerous, Juhani. You should all turn this ship around and hand me over to the Council. I cant — you can't trust me."

"Anna,  _listen to me_." Juhani gripped her shoulders. "You do  _not_ have the touch of darkness on you. You feel no different than you did before.  _You have not changed._  You are the same woman who has saved me more often than I can count, the same woman I've followed and will follow until this is over. Do not doubt yourself! And between Jolee and I, I believe we will see any warning signs." Anna finally lifted her head, giving her a weak smile. "Now, you have not eaten since the  _Leviathan_. You should do so, then probably get some rest."

"Yeah," Anna murmured.

Juhani wrapped a towel around her injured hand and helped her to her feet, surprised when Anna barely resisted the aid before stumbling towards the main hold. The Cathar sighed.

Perhaps Jolee would have more luck.

#

Jolee beat on the door. "Carth." There was no answer. Jolee hit the door again. "Carth, I need to talk to you."

With a heavy sigh, Jolee 'encouraged' the door's mechanism to slide open. Carth ignored him. "Look. Do you think a door's going to stop me?"

"What do you want, Jolee?"

"I'm concerned."

"I'm sure you are." Carth glared at the panels in front of him, blinking with absolutely no indication that anything was wrong. Jolee settled himself in the copilot's seat, calmly closing the cockpit door with the Force.

"She isn't evil." Carth half-glared at him. "I would know. 'Swirling Force' and all."

"You can't know that. She was  _Revan_. How can you  _say_  she isn't  _evil_?"

"You are easily the most paranoid person I've ever met."

"Maybe I just don't trust Jedi."

"I'm not a Jedi."

Carth glared at him from the corner of his eye. "You use the Force, you've got a lightsaber, and you wear the uniform."

"Good point." Jolee stood. "Stew about it. I don't usually waste my time."

Jolee stepped out of the cockpit, leaving Carth stewing in his chair. As he started past the communications room he spotted Anna's back, hunched over the holonet terminal, and detoured.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Anna murmured quietly, not needing to look behind her to see who was there. Jolee shrugged.

"You were close to figuring it out on your own." He stepped into the room, looking down at her.

"I had my suspicions, but nothing solid. And certainly not this." There was a quiet pause. "What should I do?"

"What do you think you should do?"

She was silent for a few minutes. "Kill Malak."

Jolee raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And why's that?"

"Because destroying the Star Forge isn't enough." She sighed. "I've been thinking. Rev— _I_  had some sort of plan. He—" she sighed again. " _I_  never destroyed anything with strategic significance. I'm . . . I'm not sure I ever even bought into the dark side. But he must have . . . And that must have been what happened."

"No revenge?"

" _Necessity_. To destroy this particular Sith threat entirely. The Star Forge won't be enough."

He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and she jumped. "Get some sleep," he chided. "The Sith and the Jedi will be there in the morning."

 


	41. Chapter 41

"Statement: Master—"

Anna sighed, head buried in the cargo hold closet. "Not now."

"Disapproving Objection: But Master, this is –"

"Fine." She stood, two bottles of Tarisian ale from Davik's stash clenched in her hands. "What."

"Statement: I found it necessary to inform you that I have been restored to full functionality upon returning to my original master."

She opened her mouth wordlessly, closed it, then just shook her head. "I really shouldn't be surprised," she said simply. "Thanks."

"Acknowledgment: Anytime, master." He whirred off back onto his patrol, and she sighed and frowned before making her way back to the main hold and fetching a glass. She knew this wasn't the  _best_ way to deal with the revelation about her identity, but it beat sitting around thinking about it. And the crew was asleep, so there was a low risk of discovery. And since they would be en route to Manaan for the next several days she could sleep it off later and no one would be any the wiser.

About a full bottle and a third of the second one, she was petting the gizka curled up against her hip and talking animatedly to T3, who interjected with the occasional comforting chirp as she rambled. It was about  _then_  that there were steps in one of the hallways. It was also then that, as she uncapped the bottle and began to drink straight from it, she decided that she no longer cared about being discovered.

"Oh,  _Force_."

And then she suddenly did care as her head spun towards the cockpit. "Aren't you supposed to be flying the  _ship_?" she spat poisonously. Carth frowned, crossing his arms.

"I was thirsty," he replied sharply. "You aren't the only person on this ship, you know."

"No. You aren't serious."

"Don't start with me, Revan." Carth went for a glass, and she scowled at his back.

"Don't  _even_ ," Anna snapped. "You know I'm—"

"Do I?"

"Oh." Her scowl deepened and with the now half-empty bottle dangling from one hand she waltzed rather drunkenly towards him. T3 chirped and scurried back down the hall to the engine room. "You seemed sure that night on Korriban," she accused. Carth whirled back to her, hand held accusingly.

"Don't even go there, sister."

"You were  _very_  sure, if I remember correctly." She waved the bottle at him. "And now you're thinking  _I_  used some sort of Sith mumbo-jumbo on you." He was ramrod straight, and she poked him in the chest. "But I  _didn't_ , you stupid stubborn schutta." She made a mental note that that was a phrase incredibly difficult to say while intoxicated. "And I listened to your problems and solved everything and –"

Carth scowled and shook his head. "You're drunk."

"Yes I am!" she announced, throwing her arms apart. "I'm drunk and you aren't and you're a stubborn ass with nice hair and I hate you."

Two could play at this game. "I don't know. You seemed quite  _satisfied_  that night on Korriban."

She slammed the bottle onto the counter and poked his chest again. "Don't you even," she said threateningly. "I'm not the one with the problem here."

"Aren't you,  _Revan_?" One corner of his mouth drew up in a sneer, and Anna held her hand waveringly in its original position.

"Gods-damn it, Carth, don't _call_  me that!" she snapped. "You're so caught up on your gods-damned par-para-paranoia that you can't even see past it all and I'm the same person and why don't you go take a spacewalk!"

"And who'd fly your ship?"

She paused for a second, staring at him before straightening again. "Canderous."

Carth laughed. "Right. Yeah. I want to see him evade a Sith patrol."

"He could! I don't . . . I don't need you." She swung and tried to grab the bottle, and Carth latched onto her wrist.

"I don't know," he hissed, holding her still when she tried to jerk away. "You seem like you need me quite a bit."

"Carth," she snapped, jerking away again. He kept his grip tight. "Carth, let go."

He didn't and she took a step closer, giving him that look she only delivered when she intended for shocks to traverse his skin. "Aren't you afraid," she murmured, stepping even closer and pushing herself against him. "That I'm using my Sithy wiles on you?"

"I think you're using your  _drunk_  wiles," he replied shortly, beginning to drag her to the medbay. "I'm going to plug you in so you don't feel this in the morning."

"And you say you don't care," she slurred, stumbling behind him. "I'm fine. I've got to finish that bottle before Canderous finds it."

"You aren't finishing anything,  _Revan_."

"Gods damn it!" Anna finally wrenched out of his grip, eyes flaring. "Stop it!" she almost screamed, and he quickly tried to hush her. "No! Just stop it, Carth! You're so fucking caught up in everything that you don't even see that we're on the same side, and I'm  _tired_  of it!"

He covered her mouth with his hand, pressing her against the wall. "Are we?" he hissed, staring down at her. She glared at him, and he jerked his hand away.

"I don't know," she replied, voice heavy with rage. "Are we?"

"That's up to you, isn't it?" Carth scowled and seized her wrist again, dragging her into the medical bay.

#

Jolee found Anna sprawled on the medbay cot, plugged into the fluid machine and quietly snoring. He walked back out into the main hold, jerking his thumb towards the medbay. "What's she doing in there?"

Everyone at the table looked at one another and shrugged.

"She was incredibly drunk last night," Carth said, not bothering to turn from the caffa machine. "I plugged her in so she wouldn't feel too rough in the morning." With that cursory explanation, he headed back into the cockpit.

Jolee frowned at the pilot's back and headed back into the medbay. Anna seemed to have woken up, throwing her arm over her eyes to block out the light. He dimmed the lights.

"Thanks," she hissed, voice hoarse. Jolee huffed in reply, gathering up components to counteract her hangover.

"This is where I remind you," he chided, not bothering to lower his voice. She winced. "That there is only so much damage to your internal organs that the Force can and cannot fix."

"Thanks," Anna mumbled.

"Do you know why my supplies are all disorganized?" Jolee asked, holding up a vial. Anna shrugged, moaning into her hands. He picked up a rag and scrubbed at his counter, frowning.

"Did you make that concoction yet?" she murmured, still covering her eyes from the light.

"Yeah. Fine. Hold still." He shook his head.

So did they hate each other or not?

#

Two days before they would reach Manaan, during the night cycle, the entire ship was startled into wakefulness by an unfamiliar sound, something that they hadn't heard or even expected to hear.

Screaming.

Jolee was out of bed first, throwing his robe around himself as he hurried to the opposite dormitory. Mission and Juhani were already out of bed, kneeling by Anna's bedside, Mission's eyes wide as her hand hovered over her friend's. Juhani's was wrapped around her wrist, keeping her from touching. Anna seemed frozen on her back, hands pinned to the side and clenching her sheets, thrashing at something they couldn't see.

"Jolee!" Juhani said, the smallest edge of panic in her voice. "I can't wake her up."

"What's happening?!" Mission asked, wide eyes fixed on the old Jedi.

Jolee muttered a curse. "We need to get her to medbay." With that, he reached past them and slung her small bulk over his shoulder, leaving for the tiny hospital room. Once there, he dropped her on the medbay cot — almost immediately she screamed again, her hands clenching as if scrabbling for purchase. He turned to the cabinets, tearing through them as Canderous appeared in the hallway behind him.

"Can we shut her up?" he mumbled, rubbing the side of his face. Anna screamed again, thrashing on the cot.

"She's bleeding," Mission said, panic edging into her voice. Jolee glanced over his shoulder as she took a step forward.

"Leave it," he snapped, turning and thrusting a vial of a glistening blue liquid at Juhani. "Hold that. Mission, the bucket."

She wrinkled her nose. "Why do I get the puke bucket?"

"Because you're standing there." Anna thrashed again and he carefully gripped her face, thumbs gently resting over her eyelids. He closed his own and within seconds Anna thrashed again. "Oh," he murmured, eyes still closed. "All right, missy, come out of it. It's not real."

She stilled, eyelids twitching under Jolee's thumbs. He stepped back just before she rocketed up, seized the bucket from Mission, and retched into it. "All right, out," Jolee barked. "Go on, shoo."

He waved everyone out, taking the vial from Juhani as they left, and turned back. Anna had collapsed back against the cot, a low whimper escaping her lips.

Carth was in the main hold when they came in, clenching a cup of caffa as he leaned against the counter. "She all right?"

"I suspect  _not_." Juhani brushed past Canderous, glaring at Carth as she settled down at the table. The pilot huffed.

A few minutes later, Jolee helped Anna out into the hold, the medbay blanket clenched around her shoulders. She was shaking, pale, and collapsed onto the bench Jolee helped her to. She hunched into herself, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her head on them limply. Mission handed her a glass of water, which she accepted but didn't drink.

"What happened?" the Twi'lek asked, sitting on her other side and reaching out to touch her shoulder. Anna hunched into herself again, clutching the blanket closer. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she murmured as she clutched the water, finally taking a sip. The blanket slid down her shoulders, slightly, and Mission could see small, almost invisible red welts rising on her bare arms. "I'm fine. It, ah . . . Bastila's being tortured," she continued, her tone attempting to be matter-of-fact. "And with the bond I—"

Her explanation was cut short as she bent double, nearly dropping her glass. Mission rubbed her shoulders gently.

"Right," Jolee said, looking up at the crew. "I'm not going to make her move, but we need to work on mental blocks. So be quiet, or shoo." He waved his hand, then leaned in and began talking to Anna in a quiet, rushed voice.

Carth frowned, and quickly hurried off. Canderous shrugged, propping his feet on the table. Juhani glared at him, then after the pilot, a frown dancing across her features. She finally moved to kneel in front of them, resting her hand on Anna's knee gently. Mission glanced at her worriedly, and Juhani gave her a strong smile. The Twi'lek returned it, resting her head on Anna's shoulder as she rubbed her back.

There was no sense in letting the girl know how bad it was, after all.

#

"Jolee."

Jolee was still cleaning up the medical bay — someone had really torn it apart and while he had his suspicions (both as to who the guilty parties had been and what they'd been doing) he wasn't going to push the issue. When he glanced over at the door, Anna was leaning against jamb. She still looked pale, though the welts on her skin were fading with the treatment he'd been quick to administer. "You need?"

She cleared her throat. "I, ah, have a serious question for you."

Jolee motioned to the cot. She settled herself on it, kicking her feet slightly as she stared at the floor. "Well? Spit it out, I don't have all day."

"Yes you do," she retorted, looking up. "We're in the middle of space, where do you think you're going to go?"

"Hmph. I might take a spacewalk before I grow a beard waiting for you to start talking." He leaned back against the counter. "Now what do you need?"

"Jolee . . ." She cleared her throat. "You walked away from the Jedi, right?"

He nodded. "I told you why before."

"But I . . . Nevermind." She moved to stand. "It's a stupid question."

"There aren't stupid questions," Jolee replied. "Just questions that you don't ask and I can't figure out and end up I forgetting what I'm talking about."

"Fair." She lowered her eyes again. "Jolee, what would they have done if your wife had come back?"

"To the Jedi? Well, she wasn't a Jedi to begin with, really."

"But if she had been, and she fell and came—"

"You want to know what fate, probably dastardly, the Jedi have planned for you when this is all over."

Anna's head jerked up. "I didn't—"

"It's written all over your face. Just ask. I'm not going to lecture you or anything." He pursed his lips. "What do you think they'll do you you?"

She huffed. "Search me. I've only been . . . Well, I've only been  _re_ -Jedified for a few months, so I haven't exactly gotten hit with the punishments section of the thou-shalt-not laws."

Jolee chuckled. "Humor me."

Anna sighed. "All right, so I know there's two real punishments. Exile, and being cut off from the Force."

"The latter's only in extreme circumstances, but —"

"Extreme?!" She waved her hand. "I'm a former Sith Lord with severe amnesia."

"Good point."

"I mean, what do they  _do_  after that? Are they just going to keep me prisoner in the Temple? Just sort of tuck me away in a corner and tell me to sit around and think about what I've done while I every move I make gets watched and scrutinized? Or are they going to strip me of the Force — which at this point I don't care one way or the other — and drop me off to . . . to moisture-farm on Tatooine or something?"

"Well, if that's what you're worried about then I think your first option's more likely. They don't usually tear people off the Force, after all," Jolee admitted. "So that, or exile."

"They're not just going to let me  _walk away_ ," she replied. "I was Darth Revan. It's not like I just sort  _tripped_. I  _tried to take over the galaxy_."

He shrugged. "Yes, and I've little doubt you would have done quite well if your apprentice hadn't had a plan of his own."

"This is  _serious,_ Jolee!"

"Course it is. I'm being serious. I just think you should focus your attention on winning this war. You can always face what the Jedi are going to do to you  _after_  you've saved the galaxy."

"If I even see it," she replied quietly, digging her palms into her eyes. "Because Jolee, if I'm just going to come out of the war and just end up in Jedi Prison or whatever, then I may as well do whatever I have to do and then fall on my lightsaber. I mean, what's to say that they won't decide that letting me live is too dangerous anyway? Because it is. It  _is_ , Jolee. My memories could come back any second and I just decide to take over the galaxy rather than save it, and maybe it's just too much. Maybe they'll decide that it's all right to make an exception in my case to just take care of it, and—"

She jumped when he cuffed the back of her head. "Stop," he chided. "Firstly, you're quickly going from shock to self-pity and I don't have time for it. Neither does Bastila  _or_  the galaxy. Secondly, the amount of logistics that would be required for falling on your own lightsaber is just silly. Pilot the ship into a sun if you're that desperate, preferably without us in it. Thirdly, if you keep thinking like this, you won't have to worry about suicide when you're done. You'll probably get killed fighting Malak, and that'll solve that.  _Except_  that you likely won't kill him as he kills you, so we'll just be back where we started. Do you want that?"

"No," Anna mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

"Good. Then stop. Worry about it when it comes. Besides." He turned back to his cabinets, putting away several vials. "You save the galaxy and the Council might consider you safe."

"Mm." She jumped back to her feet. "Thanks, Jolee."

"Did I hear a 'for nothing' in that?" he murmured as she started to leave. Anna glanced over her shoulder and frowned, then continued on her way out.

#

Anna had recovered by the time they reached Manaan, though she'd mostly kept to herself. Even as they were preparing to leave the ship she'd stayed quiet, her tawny hood drawn high over her face.

"Mission, Zaalbar, Canderous," she said finally, making everyone jump. She sounded exhausted. "Head to the cantina and see what you can find. HK, stay with the ship."

"Objection." She glared at him from under her hood, and HK decided that continuing the question was undesirable. "Supplication: Yes, master."

"We'll head to the Embassy." There was a general nod. "Great."

"Anna?" Jolee asked. She shook her head and frowned at him from under her hood.

"I'm fine. Just tired."

"Then you're still feeling it?" Juhani asked. "The torture?"

Anna nodded, though it looked more like her hood twitched. "Yeah. Though not as badly. Come on. I suspect we don't have much time." She slammed her hand into the mechanism for the door, lowering it and stalking out the ramp. Juhani and Jolee glanced at once another, then at Anna's back.

"Come on," Jolee said, starting after her. Canderous smacked Carth's shoulder as he passed.

"Don't stand around all day. I hear the Selkath have loitering laws."

Carth glared after him then followed them, one hand tight on his blaster as he stared after Anna.

He had to keep an eye on her.


	42. Chapter 42

"We don't have  _time_ to go ransack the Sith base for your  _droid_ ," Anna pleaded, hoping that Wann would understand her. The man's arms were crossed, his mouth set in a stubborn line. She could see her chances of getting him to back down decreasing rapidly. "The war is in its final days, and it will be won or lost with your actions. We  _need_  to know what you know."

She knew he knew where the Star Map was. She could clearly read it on his face, clearly see that he had a suspicion what the "artifact" she'd asked about was and  _where_ , but he saw an opportunity. For him, it wasn't every day that three Jedi walked in and were at his mercy for information. But Bastila didn't  _have_  the time this would require.

"No. No. You do what I want and maybe I can help you out. Until then . . . nothing. We need that droid and the information it captured about the city. We only have several days before the Sith decrypt its data centers."

"That's not my  _problem_ ," she replied.

"If you want my assistance, it is."

Anna grit her teeth, and Jolee rested a hand on her shoulder as he stepped forward.

"If we get this droid, then you'll tell us where our thing is," he asked.

"A deal is a deal," Wann replied.

"Fine," Anna said. "How are we getting in?"

"We captured a Sith spy. We've been attempting to interrogate him—"

"Pass." Anna waved her hand.

"We do not approve of interrogation," Juhani said.

"All right then. There's also a box of data cards, the type they use for passcards."

Anna glanced down at T3, bobbing at her knee. "You think you could break their encryption? I doubt they'll get us into the base but they might get us through it." T3 chirped. "My droid will take a look. I doubt there's a system he can't break."

"Why won't they—"

"The external Sith systems will be protected with far more subsystems and emergency scans than an interior door." She blinked at Wann's confused look. "Don't tell me you think that door back there is protected by a keycard. And  _please_ don't tell me that the only thing standing between this base and an intrusion is a handful of keycards!"

He cleared his throat. "There's one last way, then. The Sith have a private hanger that they rent from Ahto City. They use it to escort high-status visitors to the base through a backdoor. The spy I mentioned earlier had a passcard to the hangar on him. While it's sure to be well guarded, it may prove to be the—"

"We'll take it." Anna held out her hand. Wann handed her the passkey.

T3 wheeled back out, chirping happily with a keycard clenched in his metal clamps. Anna took it. "We had our best techs on that," Wann said.

"And I had mine. We'll be back tomorrow with that droid." She resisted the urge to call it  _stupid_ , then turned on her heel and began to leave. Juhani and Jolee jogged to catch up with her, Carth staying behind them with T3. She could feel his eyes burning into her back, and she resisted the urge to slump under his suspicious glare.

"Just because this is the more expedient route does not mean it is necessarily the proper one," Juhani said.

"We aren't interrogating that Sith," Anna said sharply. "And the keycard won't work with the systems."

"I guess you'd know." Carth's murmur was quiet, but still audible. Anna glared at him over her shoulder.

"If you have no useful input, then don't speak," she snapped. That adversarial glint started in his eyes.

"I'll speak if I want to."

Jolee quickly intervened, glancing between the duo. "Which way to the cantina?"

Anna shook her head. "Not sure."

#

They walked into the cantina after approximately an hour, T3 finally forced to lead the way with a map projected over his head. Canderous raised his hand when he saw them enter, and Mission turned to look at them. They slid into the booth, Anna cramming in next to Canderous and the others piling in on the other side of the Wookiee and Twi'lek on the round bench. Carth made a point to sit across from Anna, his hand pointedly on his gun and eyes watching her every move. She glared at him.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"Have you  _seen_  this place?"

"We got lost," Carth said sharply. She glared back.

"You weren't doing any better than I was."

T3 whistled.

"Well," Canderous said with a glance at Jolee. "What did your people tell you."

"We're breaking into the Sith base for a stupid  _droid_." Anna's tone belied her opinion, and she glanced down at T3. "No offense."

He chirped comfortingly.

"What about you?"

Canderous shrugged. "Selkath are disappearing so you might want to talk to that guy." He nodded at a worried-looking Selkath near the cantina's entrance. "And both sides are hiring a large amount of mercenaries. That's about it, except for all this pacifist shit."

"Breaking. Into. Sith. Base," Anna repeated."Tell me about the mercs?"

He and Mission filled them in, and she chewed on her lip. "Think you can get hired?"

"Listen, sister," Canderous said. "They ain't coming  _back_ , or did you miss that?"

"Now that Wann has a team of Jedi at his disposal I'm sure we'll be heading the same way," Jolee said. "All you'll have to do is not die."

Canderous shook his head and glanced over at Anna. "If I die, I'm haunting your ass."

"Deal. You can borrow HK. That should give you an edge, and he likes you well enough."

"Deal."

Anna stood. "I'll go speak with this Selkath. Take a break, we could all use one. We've had a rough several days."

As she started away, Anna could feel Carth staring after her. She'd only made it a step before a Mandalorian parted from the crowd of mercenaries, beginning to approach her with a feral grin on his face. She glanced back — hands had dropped to weapons, and she could feel Juhani ready to vault the table at the first sign of trouble.

"Can I . . . help you?" she asked hesitantly. Her hand slid into her robe, latching around her lightsaber. He stopped, swagger no less pronounced in his stance.

"Just a question," he said.

"I'll do what I can for you."

"Not for you." He looked past her pointedly. "For that  _thing_  following you."

She heard Juhani vault the table, appearing next to her. Anna held out her hand quickly, trying to block her off. It wouldn't work if she really got upset, but she might be able to slow her down.

"Speak quickly," she snarled, her knuckles white on her lightsaber. Anna wrapped her hand around her wrist.

"What the hell is your kind doing here? Bad enough I gotta deal with the mercs, but this is too far."

Juhani's eyes narrowed, and she heard movement as Jolee pushed his way past Carth and clapped his hand on her shoulder. Zaalbar moaned something behind her.

"I have as much of a right to be here as you do," she snapped, then added poisonously, " _sir_."

"I'm sorry, do you have a point?" Anna took a step forward. "If not, I suggest you leave quickly."

"Oooo! Big  _Jedi_ , shooting off her mouth from behind a lightsaber," he mocked. "And a woman, at that. What is this universe coming to?" Anna glared at him. "We should have exterminated all you Cathar when we had the chance."

"What?!" Juhani didn't take a step back, but a small tone of shock underlay her voice. "What do you know of my world?!"

"I know enough. And . . ." He turned his head slightly. "Hey . . . you look familiar."

"Wait." Juhani's eyes narrowed even further. "You . . ."

"All right," Anna said. "This seems like a good time for us to leave and you to walk away."

"This doesn't concern you, Jedi trash." More scraping as Canderous stood, and Zaalbar moved to stand behind Anna. A few patrons noticed and began to move away. "Hm, now where could . . . no, he's dead and she likely is too. I—"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Maybe I was wrong. Still. I think a specimen like you would be a  _nice_  addition to my collection."

"Hey." To both Anna and everyone else's surprise, Canderous slammed his hand into the man's chest. "Back off, pal," he snarled. "Only person allowed to harass this Cathar's me."

"Ha! Can't believe you, cavorting with this . . . thing."

Canderous' lip pulled up in a snarl. "I won't warn you again."

"Ha. So, Jedi." He turned his attention back to Anna. "Let's talk price."

"Let's talk you into taking a long walk off a short hanger deck," she replied sharply, hand clenching Juhani's wrist. "She is her own person, and not for sale."

"Don't be selfish. We both know Cathar aren't real people anyway. The females make amusing pets, but males need to be put down like the animals they are."

"Go to hell," Carth snapped from Jolee's side. "Open your mouth again and I'll send you there myself."

"I remember one time on Taris—"

"What?!" The word exploded out of Juhani's mouth, and she tensed again.

"Juhani, calm down," Anna said, tightening her grip on her friend's wrist. "Now, I don't know if you're drunk or stupid or both, but I'm no longer amused by this conversation. I'd walk in the other direction if I were you."

"You think I'm scared of your lightsaber, woman?" he snapped.

"What did you do on Taris, you scum?!" Juhani took a step forward, and Anna glanced over at Jolee. He shook his head, leaning forward to murmur into Juhani's ear.

"Put one of you down like the animals you are!" he snapped. "So easy . . . Then saw one of the females on the auction block, but those damn Jedi —"

"It  _was_  you." Her voice suddenly nearly collapsed on itself, though Anna wasn't sure if it was trepidation or reaching that point of such blinding rage that language just started to fail and words became to turn into gibberish.

"What? Me? Oh!" He laughed. "Now I know where I recognize you from."

"Right." Anna took a step forward, pushing him back. "It's time for you to walk away. I'll buy you a drink if—"

" _You_  were the little Cathar I was going to purchase! But those damn Jedi came and stole my pet away from me!"

"Juhani," Anna heard Jolee murmur. "Remember the Code. You don't want to go back to where you were."

"You Jedi act all prim and proper, but inside you must feel the same way I do about the lesser  _non-human_ species. The Sith at least let their feelings show on the outside."

Zaalbar growled from behind Anna, resting a huge paw on her shoulder. A brief wave of fear crossed the man's face, but it quickly passed.

"Come now, will you let your pet go? I'm sure we can come up with a price we both think is fair."

Anna took another step forward, planting her hand in the man's chest and pushing him back. "She. Is. Not. Owned," she growled. "She is no more a slave than you are. And in fact I think you can see that she is far more than a booze-soaked, beat-down Mandalorian like  _you_."

"If you press the issue," Canderous interrupted. "I'll throw you off the side of the city."

Juhani took another step forward. "I will see you  _dead_  for what you've done to my people!"

"Uh . . . hold on a second!" He raised his hands.

"Juhani, your emotions," Anna said calmly, looking over her shoulder. "Don't fall again."

Juhani closed her eyes and ducked her head, then released a slow breath. "I will remain calm. I am a Jedi now."

"That's right!" he said. "That whole emotion-peace thing!"

"Don't you even start," Anna said, whirling on him. "And I suggest you walk away. Even you can't stand up to three Jedi, a Wookiee and a Mandalorian all at once." T3 chirped agreement from somewhere around her knees.

"I will have her yet, Jedi, don't think I won't," he snarled, lowering his voice.

"Right." Canderous' hand grabbed the back of his shirt, and he started towards the door with the man stumbling next to him. "I bet you have strong feelings about sharks."

"What? No! I—" Their conversation cut out as they disappeared into the sun. Juhani's shoulders sagged, her head dropping into her hands. Anna rubbed her shoulder.

"All right," she said gently. "While Canderous is feeding that Huttspawn schutta to the firaxen, we should probably get back to the  _Hawk_. Jolee, we'll go talk to your friend's wife."

"What?" Carth asked.

"Got a friend on trial. It's not really a problem. We'll deal with it."

"I just have to go talk to the court so I can be appointed his arbiter, apparently," Anna said. "Juhani, will you be all right to walk back?"

"I-I should be fine." She stared at her hands. "I just wish I could know where he was. I—"

"Don't worry." Mission suddenly shimmered into existence. "I put a tracker on him. T3 can keep track of him."

They blinked at her. "You . . . put a tracker on him?"

"Yeah," she said with a shrug. "I keep them on hand."

". . . Why?" Jolee asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Please," Mission said, starting for the door. "You think you all don't have trackers on you?"

They stared after her. "I feel a sudden need to go through all my clothing," Anna said quietly.

There was a general nod of agreement.

#

That night dinner was quiet.

Anna had begun her investigation into Sunry's case, but things began to close and they had to go back to the ship. By then Zaalbar — who was a surprisingly good cook as long as they picked out the hair — had prepared dinner, and the silence had grown pervasive.

Finally Juhani looked up and cleared her throat, pushing a chunk of meat around on her plate.

"Why did you step in, Canderous?"

Anna nearly dropped her fork. She'd never heard Juhani use his name before — as far as she knew, the Cathar didn't even know it. Canderous didn't look taken aback, and merely shrugged. "He was out of line."

"I wouldn't have thought you concerned."

Anna scanned the table. Mission's eyes were flitting back and forth between the two, Jolee calmly sitting with his hand on his lightsaber under the table. Zaalbar's shoulders were tensed, prepared to step in. Carth was watching both of them, one eye still warily on Anna.

"Only person allowed to screw with your head is me," he said, pointing to her and then himself in turn. "Anyone else is getting into my territory."

"You do not even  _like_  me."

"I respect you. You're a damn good warrior. Besides. He was a scumbag."

Juhani cleared her throat. "Thank you. It, ah, occurred to me that I've been less than hospitable and—"

"Save it," Canderous said gruffly. "I have a reputation to maintain."

Anna chuckled. "Glad to see you two made up." She looked up to see the two of them staring at her. "Well, at least to a point where I won't have to clean your blood off the floors again." Canderous chuckled and stood, dumping his plate and wandering off.

"Gettin' awful soft in here," he shouted back.

There was a general chuckle.

"So how are you feeling?" Mission asked gently. Anna shook her head.

"There are moments," she said. "I . . . I have an idea what she's going through and . . ." That sufficiently killed her appetite, and she put her fork down. "I'll be in the cargo hold."

She dropped her plates in the scrubber and hurried out. Mission met Jolee's eyes before she dropped them back to her plate. "Sorry."

"Don't be."

#

Jolee looked around the room. The entire crew was present, minus Carth, Anna, and HK. He and Mission had chosen the engine room as neither of the two parties were wont to wander in in search of a drink or food, and they needed privacy.

"What's this about, old man?" Canderous asked, tightening a screw on his blaster. Jolee crossed his arms, leaning up against the door. A gizka bounded past his foot.

"You may have noticed that our fearless leader is going through an intense personality change right now," Jolee answered. Canderous shrugged.

"'Pose so." He bit his tongue as his blaster seemed not to cooperate. "Didn't quite take the fact that she's Revan so well."

"You are correct," Juhani said. "She pretends she is fine, but she is obviously not. She believes she hides it well but I think we all know the truth."

"Jolee asked me about this," Mission said from her perch on the hyperdrive. "Since, Bastila's gone and Carth's throwing a fit –" Canderous chuckled. "—me and Zaalbar've been around the longest, so he thought we'd have a better grip on things. And  _I_  think Anna's big problem is that Carth is taking this so hard. I think if he wasn't, she'd be dealing with this identity thing better.

"Cause now," she continued, motioning with her hands. "She's all worried about who she was, on top of getting  _reminded_  about it every two seconds."

"And I agreed with this assessment," Jolee added. "You take Carth and Anna before the  _Leviathan_  — they were nearly inseparable. You take them now – when was the last time you saw them together?"

The hold was quiet. Juhani finally spoke. "What are you suggesting we do, Jolee? The Council will not approve of Anna's attachments with Commander Onasi, and –"

"If we don't do something, Anna's fight with Malak — since the Force will likely push them into a confrontation at the rate it's going — is going to end one of two ways. One, she kills him and dies as well. Secondly, she fails to kill him and dies. She's already asked  _me_  what she thinks the Jedi will do to her once the Star Forge is destroyed, and what she believes they'll do isn't pretty. People with a death wish do stupid things. This is for her own  _safety_."

There was a long, pregnant pause.

"Well, I'm tired of Onasi walking around like a kicked kath," Canderous finally said, adjusting his scope. "And Revan isn't doing much good focusing on that bike in the garage."

"I believe in the wisdom of the Council." Juhani sighed, not happy about the fact that she was about to agree with the Mandalorian. "But I see the wisdom in Jolee's words. Anna can do nothing in her current state."

Zaalbar shrugged and nodded when eyes turned to him.

"So now what?" Canderous asked. "We can lock them in one of the dorms together for a while."

Mission looked disgusted. Even Juhani managed a small laugh. Jolee frowned, scrunching his nose slightly.

"I think it's best to push them together the entire time we're here," Jolee answered. "There's something to be said for having a little caution, but Carth needs to see what we see – that she isn't Revan anymore." There was a general nod of assent with a shrug from Canderous.

"And what would the point of this _be_ , Jolee?" Juhani asked.

"We get them talking again. I have a feeling that once Carth and Anna are speaking again, everything else will fall into place. However, we need to be creative. It may not work . . . but I hope it does." Jolee palmed the door, and they filed out before anyone became too suspicious. T3 stopped and chirped at him. "Hm?"

:: _What do you need me to do_?:: He repeated.

"Ah yes. You." Jolee leaned down, lowering his voice. "You spend a lot of time with Anna, so you're going to be very important."


	43. Chapter 43

She sensed his presence before he'd even made it to the door.

After retreating to the cargo hold, Anna had begun going through her different lightsaber routines. It distracted her, and she found that she focused herself better when moving. Focusing posed the danger of inadvertently stumbling across more of what was happening to Bastila — considering some of the things that had bled through earlier she didn't  _want_  to — but it also helped her strengthen the barriers that kept her from waking up screaming in pain and curled into the fetal position again.

But because she'd spent so much time with Carth on Korriban she knew what he felt like in the Force, and she knew when he was hovering in the doorway behind her.

"You here for something or are you just enjoying the show?" she finally asked, deactivating her lightsabers and turning. Carth frowned.

"I'm here for something,  _Revan_." She let the name thing slide, though she was certain he saw the twitch that belied her dissatisfaction.

"You always are, apparently," she snapped, clipping her lightsabers onto her belt. "So make it fast."

He took a step into the hold. "What were you doing?"

"Practicing. As usual. What did it look like?"

Carth didn't answer, taking another step forward. "How can I be sure?"

She raised an eyebrow. "It's the same routine that I've been doing since we left Dantooine the first time?"

He took another step. "How do I know," he started quietly. "That you won't randomly turn into Revan?"

Anna stayed silent, meeting his eyes. "You don't," she admitted. "You don't know, and I don't know. Neither of us know. I can't give you a guarantee that I'm not hi-" She sighed. " _Her_ , anymore. The rest of it is on you." He continued to stare at her, obviously not sated, and she sighed again. "If you don't trust me, I wouldn't blame you for doing what you told me you wanted to do to Revan."

He looked at the floor and nodded. "To put a round in his skull."

"Carth." She took a step forward, which prompted him to take another back. She sighed. "Carth, please, I need you to do something. If . . ." She took a deep breath. "If I ever meant anything to you. If that night on Korriban mattered, or any of those moments really . . . if you see me falling, if you see any sign that I'm falling to the dark side . . ." She swallowed, and looked away. "There's no one else I can trust to do this, so it must be you. If I start to fall, you need to ensure that the threat is stopped before I can."

She looked back up to see Carth staring at a bulkhead, eyes distant. "Yeah," he said finally. "I'll do it. And I won't lose sleep."

Anna knew he was lying.

"You know I trusted you," he said. "I trusted you and I opened up to you. Hell I . . ." He trailed off, and Anna ducked her head. "That day on Korriban, when you left for the last tomb I couldn't believe I'd actually . . . I came to  _terms_  with it, I thought I _knew_  you, I thought we could actually . . . I don't know." He threw his hands up.

"Yeah. And I guess there's no hope of that," she replied. "You think this is easy for me? You think that I  _wanted_ to find out that I was secretly the not-so-late Dark Lord of the Sith and that I killed  _billions_? You think I  _want_  to live in fear of my own actions, or my own  _mind_? Do you even realize that I'm second-guessing everything I do because I'm terrified of even  _maybe_ making a mis-step? Carth, I —" She lowered her head and released a frustrated huff. "It doesn't matter. You won't believe me no matter what I say. Revan is  _gone_ , Carth, the memories may  _never_  come back. But I'm not. I don't  _feel_ any different. I'm Anna. I'm  _here_."

"Are you?"

Anna stared at him. "Yes."

"And what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

He motioned. "Are you going to kill Malak? Are you going to kill him and then take his place?"

"I can't guarantee what'll happen when we reach the Forge. The Maps are a product of the dark side so it must be as well, and likely is far stronger. But . . ." She took a deep breath. "If I resist, which is what I plan on doing, I will defend the Republic to my last breath. I will expect you to do the same."

"Always." His voice carried a note of hostility, and she frowned and took another step forward. "Stop."

"Carth, listen to me. I'm not the enemy here."

"Aren't you?"

"Maybe I was, once. But I'm not  _now_. I haven't run off and sold you out to the Sith, and I'm not going to."

"We'll see." He turned on his heel and headed for the door, stopping just before he would have left. "You know, I could report you to the Republic. Tell them just who the Jedi have working for them."

"You wouldn't." They both  _knew_  he wouldn't — no matter what she was, Bastila had asked him to make sure she lived long enough to end the war and if Carth Onasi was anything, he was a man of his word. No matter what she was he'd continue to protect her, because he'd asked to; he'd stop her if she started to fall, because he'd promised to.

"But I could."

"What in  _hell_  is wrong with you?" she asked, throwing her hands up. "One second you're trying to work with me and the next you're threatening me. Make up your mind."

"I'm not going to bow down and be fine with this like everyone else!" he snapped.

"I'm not  _asking_  you to! I'm asking for just a bit of cooperation! Just a  _smidge,_  Carth!"

"I'll do what I have to do to see this through, but don't expect any more."

"Why?" Anna snapped. "You're scared that you felt something and now you don't know who you fell for?"

"Stop it!" He turned back, hand raised.

"You're  _scared_. Of  _me_! Of what I could be if I became Revan again!"

"Stop it, or I'll gag you," he threatened. She laughed — her Jedi-laugh, forced and cold.

"Do it, then! If you've got the—" He wasn't exactly sure what word or language she used, but he had a general idea of the gist. "—to touch me, do it!"

"You know damn well I do, sweetheart!"

"You  _did_ ," she retorted. "But I don't think you  _do_  anymore! So who was it on Korriban, Carth? Anna or Revan?"

"Stop."

"Answer me!" she demanded. "Who was it? Who'd you have?"

His brows narrowed, more than one unbidden memory coming to mind. "Stop."

"No." Her tone had moved from near-yelling to a simple flat tone. "Answer me, Onasi."

"I'm not afraid of you," he replied.

"Ha. Aren't you? You're so afraid that I'll be Revan again that—"

He took a step forward and grabbed her arm, pushing her further into the cargo hold. She tried to jerk out of his grip, then frowned at him. "Let go."

"What?" he asked, voice low. "Scared?"

She jerked away, pulling her arm out. Her other pushed him back, letting her step away. "You'll do as I tell you," she hissed.

"Will I?"

"My mission, my ship, yes," she snapped, readjusting her robe.

"Only person who isn't crazy,  _no_."

"Then leave," she snapped. He laughed.

"You asked me to stop you if you fell. If I'm the only thing between the end of this war and absolute genocide, I'm  _not_ leaving."

"Then work  _with_ me."

"Why? You want me to bow down to you like everyone else on this ship?"

She took a step forward, glaring at him. "I don't know what sort of delusions you suffer from, Carth Onasi," Anna snarled. He was surprised to see moisture coloring her eyes, hidden by her anger. "But  _no one_  on this ship is bowing to me."

"Jolee doesn't care. Canderous is practically worshipping you. Juhani is still following you around like you're the only person who exists — tell me they aren't—"

"Shut up," she snapped, brushing past him. "It's obvious neither of us are prepared to discuss this.

"Apparently," he replied.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and she brushed a loose piece of hair behind her shoulder. "Right. Fine. I'll see you in the morning, Onasi." She turned. "Try not to choke on your paranoia tonight."

"Try not to . . ." He couldn't come up with a decent reply, and as such merely glared after her as she disappeared.

#

"Oh, come  _on._ "

Mission glanced through the door to the comm room. Canderous was leaning back in one of the chairs, holding a glass of some amber liquid and watching a feed on one of the terminals. "Whatcha doin?"

He jolted upright, clearing his throat. "Nothing. Watching some old . . . nothing."

He pressed a button, but not before she got a good look at what he was watching. "Were you  _seriously_  spying on —"

"Hey!" He raised his hand. "I was hoping to see her throw him around the cargo hold a few times. You know how it is. We don't get a whole lot of entertainment on this ship."

"Sure you were." She punched his shoulder and started back out of the communications room.

"Kid." She turned. "Not a word."

Mission grinned. "None at all."

#

Leaving Canderous to go head off to the Republic embassy and start his new job, Anna waited for a while before she headed out with everyone else in tow. Zaalbar had been hesitant to come at first, but Anna commented that she doubted they'd be undiscovered for long and he might come in handy.

They waited quietly for her to use the keycard on the door.

"All right," she started. "Juhani, we'll clear this hanger. I'm sure that there'll be some black robes you can steal and Mission, you'll need a Sith uniform. You two will take T3 and wait for about a half-hour, then through the Sith embassy's entrance. We'll meet up and spread out." The two nodded. "Hang back in case they've got cams in here. We don't want an alert to go out too quickly."

Juhani nodded, leaning over to whisper to Mission.

"T3, you stay back too. Come on."

The hanger was, in fact, full of Sith officers and dark Jedi. They forced their way through, clearing it out with surprisingly little resistance.

"You'd think it'd be more guarded," Carth said, toeing one of the bodies. Anna shrugged.

"Just thank your lucky stars that it isn't." She nodded towards Juhani and Mission, then started for the ship. "Come on."

The trip to the base did not take that long, and the group found precious few guards as they crept through the back. Anna opened her comm. "Okay, Juhani. Whenever you're ready."

:: _Going through now._ ::

"Are you sure this is smart?" Carth hissed.

"Yeah," she replied. "If I'd sent more they would have been suspicious. And anyway, with Juhani and T3, Mission'll be able to hack the main computer. She knows her job."

Zaalbar grumbled behind her, his voice echoing down the corridor. " _I hope so._ "

"She'll be fine, Z."

#

"And . . . why are you here?"

"I am here to perform a surprise inspection," Juhani said. She was covered in a dark black robe, hiding her face in shadow. "I hope you will not delay me."

The Sith receptionist frowned. "We do not  _have_  surprise inspections."

"Are you one to question the orders of Lord Malak?"

She looked surprised for a second, then recovered. "I will need to clear this, of course." She turned and opened up her computer terminal, talking into the comm.

"I don't think it's working," Mission murmured.

"No," Juhani agreed. "We will wait for the 'escort' to arrive and then strike."

Mission nodded, hand tightening on her blaster.

A door to the left opened, admitting several red-armored Sith elites and an officer. Mission's hand tightened further.

"What is going on here?"

"A surprise inspection," Juhani said. "I expect you to stand down."

"By whose orders?"

"Lord Malak himself."

"We will need to check this." The men pointed their weapons at them, and Juhani glanced at Mission. Mission nodded, and she dove to roll to the other side of the desk. Juhani's cloak fluttered to the ground as she pulled her lightsaber off her belt, the twin blue blades igniting with their characteristic roar. T3 took a step back, opening fire with his blaster.

Juhani blocked the first guard, slicing through his chest with her saber, then deflected a bolt without a second glance. Mission ducked a shot from the receptionist, taking her time to draw a deep breath before popping back up and firing. She scored a hit in the woman's chest, sending her staggering back before she collapsed to the ground. Her next shot whizzed through a soldier's helmet, dropping him to the ground. Juhani finished off the final two soldiers, deactivating her lightsabers as soon as the coast was clear.

"Get into the computer," Juhani said, skimming the soldiers around them. Mission nodded and quickly sliced into the computer, skimming the files as they went by. T3 plugged in next to her. "I will get Anna on the comm."

Mission nodded, intent on her work.

"Anna, we are at the reception desk. Mission is working on slicing into the main system."

There was a brief flash of blaster fire on the other end. :: _Good. We inadvertently stumbled across the droid. Need us to send anyone?_ ::

"No, I think we are all fine," Juhani answered.

"Opening security doors," Mission announced. "Jolee, found something about your friend. I'm copying it. I'll see what else I can find."

:: _Keep us posted, then. Hack the coordinates for our meet-up and send them back to us._ ::

Mission continued to work at the console. "I've got them on the cams. They've nearly cleared the room. What's on that droid anyway? They're putting up a heck of a fight."

"I am not sure. Some sort of atmospheric —"

The Twi'lek suddenly yelped, collapsing forward against the desk. Juhani stepped forward, lightsaber jumping off her belt, and quickly ran it through her chest. T3 chirped as she turned back to help Mission prop herself up on the reception desk, her eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"What happened?" she asked. "Keep hacking the computer, T3."

"I think she shot me," Mission said, motioning at the dead receptionist. "I didn't think it'd hurt this much."

"Let me see." Mission nodded, and let Juhani help her around. "It looks like your vest took most of — is this Anna's?!"

"She let me borrow it." She winced when she tried to move.

"You may have broken something. We don't have time to fix it. I'll numb your pain but we'll have to get Jolee to fix it." T3 beeped. "What?"

"He was downloading the archives," Mission said. Juhani reached behind her, gently numbing the blaster burn on her back.

"Good job." She nodded, and smiled at her. Mission grinned back up at her, though it looked more like a pained grimace. "Come on. We need to make the rendezvous."

"Right." She let Juhani help her up. "Okay. Let's hurry."

"T3." Juhani nodded at the droid. "Help her?" He chirped, and cocked his head so Mission could grip it easier.

They hurried through to the rear entrance with Juhani mowing through any Sith they came across, Mission sliding down the wall once they got there. A pained hiss escaped through her teeth as Juhani knelt next to her.

"All right. Hold still." She reached around and placed her hand on the wound, closing her eyes.

A few minutes later the others came back through, running feet announcing their approach. "What happened?" Anna asked, falling to her own knees.

"It's a minor wound," Juhani explained.

"Doesn't feel like it," Mission murmured, wincing.

"I have done what I could, but —"

"I'll take it from here." Jolee nudged her aside and helped Mission back to her feet. "Anna, we'll need to get back to the  _Hawk_."

"That's fine. I still need to find the Selkath kids. I know they're here." She stood. "Jolee, take everything and head back to the ship. Anyone you want with you?"

"We'll be fine. You'll probably need the help." He nodded. "We'll take the shuttle back. Selkath shouldn't be looking too hard at that bay."

"If the Sith have already taken it back over?" Carth prompted. Jolee squinted at him. He didn't look like he wanted to leave, but he didn't look like he particularly wanted to stay either.

"Zaalbar, go with them."

Zaalbar nodded.

"Take everything we've got then. You'll take the droids and Mission back through the shuttle."

"And how will  _we_ get out?" Carth asked.

"I'll figure that out when we get there," Anna snapped. "Go on."

Jolee helped Mission out, Zaalbar striding behind with his bowcaster ready. T3 chirped as he rolled after Zaalbar, blaster still pointed out of his flat metal top. Anna stretched her neck.

"All right. New strategy." She skimmed the remaining members of her party. "Juhani and I will take care of close quarters, as usual. Onasi, hang back and shoot things. It's what you do best." He frowned at her. "All right. Let's find these kids."

She started into the far hallway, Juhani close on her heels. Carth checked that he had a clear line of sight on her, and gripped his blaster closer.

Just in case, he was ready.

#

"Your brilliant plan is to  _leave out the front door_?"

"Why not?" Anna asked, glancing over her shoulder at Carth. The elevator chimed as it opened in front of them. "No one'll expect it, and Jolee took the shuttle. He's got all the important data."

"I do not know, but it does not appear we have much of a choice."

"Well, if anything does happen." Anna handed Juhani her bag, the datapad and the small Selkath medallion they'd found with the Selkath children. "You go invisible and get back to the  _Hawk_. We'll take the fallout."

"Uh,  _you_  can take the fallout," Carth replied.

"I don't see  _you_  wearing a stealth gen," Anna retorted. "Come on. If we wait here the Sith will send in a cleanup team, and I don't want to be here for that."

"True enough."

Juhani followed Anna as she stepped into the elevator, and with a heavy sigh Carth followed suit. The elevator took its time, though the trip seemed to only be a few seconds — the base could not have been too deep, or else it would have been sunken under the water. The doors opened a crack, and suddenly Juhani shimmered out of existence from her side.

The doors split more, and Anna could see why. She and Carth held up their hands to the army of Ahto City Security droids that pointed their blasters at them. Behind them stood a row of Selkath, staring at them suspiciously.

"Hello," Anna said, and he could tell from her tone that she was preparing to hit them with every ounce of her charisma. "I—"

" _We have had reports of the Sith Embassy going silent,_ " one of the Selkath said. " _Along with reports of detonations and blaster fire._ "

"Well," Anna said, glancing at Carth. "I, ah, don't know what you're talking about. We were in for a meeting, we—"

" _By authority of Ahto City Security you are placed under arrest until the cause of this disturbance can be ascertained._ "

"Now, wait —" Carth took a step forward. The droids locked into place, blaster rifles swinging up.

"I think they're quite serious about this," Anna said calmly. "I assume you want our weapons?"

" _Yes. Slowly, please._ " The droids swept their weapons over to her.

She lowered one hand, keeping the other raised, and unstrapped her utility belt while leaving the stealth generator intact. Her 'sabers clanked to the ground, where they were swept up by a droid. After a  _look_ , Carth unsnapped his blasters and handed them over to one of the other droids. Anna, with her one hand still high, fished out her holdout blaster, an extra short lightsaber, several grenades, a few security spikes and computer tools, and some other security odds and ends.

"That should be everything," she said. "Now, where are we going?"


	44. Chapter 44

"They've been arrested."

Jolee looked up from where he was reorganizing his supplies. Mission stared at her blankly from the cot. "What?" he asked, slamming his box of supplies closed.

"They've been arrested for breaking into the Sith base and 'causing a disturbance,'" Juhani explained. "Anna gave me everything from the Selkath youth that we gathered but we didn't have a choice. We could have fought our way out but —"

"We still need their help, yes." Jolee washed off his hands.

"Well, we need to break them out, don't we?" Mission asked.

"No. We can't." Juhani held up her hands. "They're being rushed to trial. The Sith have already put forward a trial and —"

"But we can't, we —"

"It's in a half hour. Their arbiter should be speaking to them now. They apparently take violations of Manaan law quite a deal more seriously than we assumed."

"We should hurry then." Jolee swung his over-robe on, drawing it close to him. "Provided we don't get lost we might make it in a reasonable amount of time."

"Are you all right to come with us?" Juhani asked. Mission nodded.

"I feel fine." She swung her coat on, bouncing off the seat. "Come on."

They made their way across the expansive island city, managing to make it to the courtroom on the other side before the trial began. Wann was waiting for them, catching sight of Jolee and Juhani and turning on them, hand raised.

"What the  _hell_ was she thinking?" he demanded. "We were trying to  _not_  create an incident and the next thing I know, the _Republic_  is being cited for causing a disturbance?! And by  _disturbance_  I mean  _rampaging through the Sith base?_ "

"Calm down, Ambassador," Jolee said, gently lowering the man's hand as he walked by. "I'm sure Anna knows what she's doing."

"Besides, you gave us a task that delayed us from our set mission. You cannot blame her for taking an expedient route, especially when the Sith would not have handed over the droid just from us asking politely." Juhani followed Jolee, brushing past Wann without another look. "And she sometimes knows what she's doing."

"Sometimes!?" Wann shouted after them.

"Often enough that we don't worry about it." Mission grinned and bounded after them. Zaalbar lumbered past, a low chuckle rumbling back in his throat.

Wann grasped a fistful of his balding hair and groaned back in his throat.

#

Carth glared at Anna from his cage in the prison, even more irritated by the fact that she was meditating in her own. Jolee's friend Sunry was watching her carefully, probably confused about why one of his arbiters was randomly in jail with him.

"This is your fault, you know," Carth murmured. Her eyes opened, glaring at him.

"No," she said. "I'd say that this is the Selkath legal system's fault." She shrugged, closing her eyes again. "Seriously, I'm doing what I have to."

"Yeah, how often did you say that w-last time?"

She slit her eyes back open. "Likely very often. I'd tell you but — hey, I don't  _remember_."

"I—" His comeback was cut off by a Selkath wearing the mark of a lawyer, walking through the door and approaching Anna and Carth's cells. She climbed to her feet.

" _Hello, Jedi, Commander Onasi. I have been appointed your arbiter for this case._ "

"All right," Anna said with a nod.

" _I am called Bwa'lass._ "

"Then we should get started. What have we been charged with?"

" _Disrupting the neutrality laws of the Selkath by initiating violence within the Sith Embassy and murdering members of the Abassadorial Commission of the Sith Empire_."

"Right," Carth breathed. "Their blessed neutrality."

"And what is your plan for our defense?"

" _I would first like to ask you a few questions regarding the events that led up to your arrest_." After receiving a confirming nod, he continued. " _I have already been given all relevant data on you and your companions, so that can be disregarded. For what reason did you enter the Sith Embassy?_ "

"I, ah . . ." Anna cleared her throat and glanced at Carth. "I had the, ah, proper authorization to enter."

" _I . . . I'm sure, off-worlder._ "

"Great, you've already alienated our lawyer," Carth muttered. She glared at him.

" _What is your prior association with the Sith?_ "

He didn't miss the quick flash of Anna's eyes as they suddenly grew wide, before she swallowed and blinked a few times. "None," he answered for her. "Except that we're on the opposing side of the war."

"We're on a mission to end the hostilities," Anna said. "There was vital information in the Sith computers necessary to put an end to the war."

" _Mm._ " He made a note. " _I have all the information I need. We should proceed now, the judges are waiting._ "

"Uh . . ." They traded another look. "Don't you need some more  _information_ , or—"

He interrupted Carth. " _No, I believe things are very clear. I will summon the guards then._ " He did, and the two Selkath unlocked their cages. Anna and Carth traded a look as they were prodded to walk side-by-side.

"Ever get the feeling that you're marching to an execution?" she murmured.

"All the time," he replied quietly.

" _You will be taken before the judges_ ," one of them said, apparently irritated by their conversing. " _Where your breaking of our law will be judged._ "

"I'd assume that," Anna said as they started to lead her out. "Considering that we're, you know, going on trial."

"Will you  _behave_?" Carth hissed as they were shuffled around the corner. A few Sith jeered at them from their spectators' positions nearby as they were walked into the courtroom — Wann and several Republic soldiers, along with their companions, were hanging around in the back of the courtroom. A Sith lawyer — Anna suspected he was the same one she'd seen the previous day — was waiting for them.

Carth and Anna were prodded forward to the defense's position.

" _You stand accused of the grievous murder of many Sith, and extensive property damage to their Embassy here._ "

Anna glanced at Carth. "I didn't see  _that_  much property damage, comparatively."

"Be _have_ ," he hissed.

" _How do you plead?_ "

"Not . . . particularly guilty," Anna murmured. Carth glared at her.

" _My client pleads not guilty, your honors._ " Their lawyer repeated.

" _Let the record show that this trial has commenced. Presiding are . . ._ " Anna skimmed the courtroom as the judges announced themselves, meeting the Sith's representative's glare.

" _Given the severity of this trial we can dispense with the normal formalities of the court and proceed directly._ "

" _You have pleaded not guilty, yet there were reports of weaponsfire and detonations from within the Sith Embassy._ "

" _You were seen entering and leaving the Embassy, though security feeds inside were placed in a nonresponsive loop for the duration of the disturbance._ " Anna's eyes flicked over to Mission, and the Twi'lek winked and patted T3's head. " _It would seem, however, that you are the source of the disturbance_."

" _My client was there by circumstance and was not involved in the disturbance._ "

Anna and Carth glanced at each other. He raised an eyebrow.  _This isn't going to end well._

_Do you want me to intervene?_

_Do you want to rot off in a Selkath prison while_  your _apprentice takes over the galaxy_?

Anna cleared her throat, opting not to think about the fact that she and Carth had just had a wordless discussion and he'd still managed to call her Revan.

" _What is it, off-worlder? Do you have something to say regarding your reasons for being there?_ "

"Yes, actually," Anna started, taking a step forward. "I can cut this short. You'll hate me for wasting your time if I don't tell you this now." She squared her shoulders. "I have evidence that the Sith are — or  _were_ , rather, as I put an end to it — abducting young Selkath to train them in the dark side of the Force." There was a small murmur that ran through the courtroom. "They did this with the attempt to undermine your authority and usurp the future leaders of the Selkath. Now, I wouldn't expect you to believe me based on words alone, so if my friend could hand me something . . ." The lead judge nodded, and Anna held out her hand. Juhani threw one of the datapads from the base to her, and Anna caught it. She walked up to the first judge's desk, handing it to him.

". . . I took this datapad out of the personal belongings of the Sith Master training these recruits. It hasn't been altered in any way, which you would easily be able to tell through a cursory examination of the data."

" _Let it be noted that the court has taken this new evidence into consideration._ " The lead judge skimmed it. " _This is . . . most disturbing. We will take a small recess to analyze this new data._ " Chairs scraped as the judges retreated to their chambers. Anna looked over at the Sith representative, his mouth agape, and smiled.

"You weren't aware of that, were you?"

"Shut up," he snarled.

She smiled again. "You ask so nicely."

"Annaaaa," Carth murmured. "Play nice with the evil Sith." The man glared at him.

The Selkath shuffled back in. " _We have verified that this is indeed a Sith datapad, indicating their complicity in a plot to overthrow the lawful government on Manaan. In gratitude for having discovered this heinous offense, all charges against you regarding this incident will be dropped. Pending a suitable penalty against the Sith, their Embassy is considered off-limits to all Ahto City Security personnel. No calls or incidents from their base will be attended to until this matter is dealt with, as they are no longer subject to the protections of Selkath law._ "

"But—" The lawyer began to protest.

" _Silence. You should have considered this before attempting to corrupt our youth,_ " he admonished. " _You have been found innocent and may leave as you desire. This trial is over._ "

Anna stretched as her guard handed back her weapons and the other handed Carth his blasters. "No hard feelings." She patted their former lawyer's shoulder. "That just wasn't going to help."

As they approached their companions Mission hurried forward and hugged Anna. "You feeling better?" she asked. Mission stepped back.

"Jolee fixed me up," she answered. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"Let's get back to the ship," she said. "I want to take a nap. Besides, Sunry's trial is tonight. We need to be ready."

"Master Je—" Anna waved Wann away.

"Find me after the trial tonight," she said.

#

"Nothing further. Thank you, Elora." Anna smiled and patted the woman's arm as she passed, though the action garnered a warning look from one of the judges. Carth had felt increasingly uncomfortable from the way she spoke, still as wonderfully as Revan always had.

Sunry stood behind her and Jolee, staring down at his hands. Jolee still didn't seem happy about her plan to get his friend released — after all, they had solid evidence but he had unequivocally killed the Sith, albeit as part of a larger plan. Jolee had taken the first two witnesses, letting Anna handle his friends — as Elora stepped down, he noticed the Sith representative's look piercing over at the man they were defending.

"And they called him  _impartial_ ," Mission snorted. "He's as impartial as a Wookiee after stolen food."

Zaalbar chuckled.

" _Are there any further witnesses you wish called?_ "

"Yes!" The Sith interrupted. "I wish to call forth Sunry himself, your Honors."

"As do I," Anna said carefully.

" _Very well._ "

Jolee motioned Sunry forward. "Are you a war hero, Mr. Sunry?" the Sith asked. "You fought in wars against the Sith, correct?"

"A different group of Sith, but yes. And I don't regret it either! The Republic needs its heroes."

"Indeed . . . would you say that you dislike the Sith? Even . . .  _hate_  them?"

"Of course I do! Trying to take over the galaxy every chance they get! Killing millions of innocents!"

"Were you in Elassa's room the night of the murder?"

"Objection," Anna said, almost lazily. "Emotionally disturbing my client."

" _Noted. Answer the question, Mr. Sunry, and be more careful with your tone, prosecutor._ "

"I, uh, yes, I was. I'd been having an affair with Elassa yes, but I realized how wrong I'd been and I was going there to end it!"

"You were having an affair with a Sith! You wanted to end it quickly and quietly, so you killed her from behind and tried to flee!"

"No, I—"

"I think we can see the answer clearly enough, Mr. Sunry!"

"Another objection," Anna said. "The only way he could threaten him more is by dropping him in a rancor pit."

" _Do not interrupt the accused,_ " one of the judges added.

" _In fact, I think you've said quite enough already, prosecutor. Do you have any questions, Arbiter?_ "

"No, I believe my . . . illustrious opponent covered everything."

"What?" Jolee hissed.

"I have an idea," Anna murmured. "Closing's where we're going to have to end this. And besides, I have footage we can draw on."

Jolee shook his head as Sunry returned to his spot behind him. "I'm really starting to hate you sometimes."

"Join the club. Carth has shirts, I hear."

" _You may begin your closing, prosecutor._ "

"It seems obvious to me that the case is straightforward. Sunry was having an affair with Elassa, and he sought to end it. The quickest and easiest way to do so, given his hatred of the Sith, was simply to kill her. Witnesses saw Sunry fleeing the scene, and material evidence places him there at the time of the murder as well. I am confident that informed observation of the facts will lead the judges — your Honors — to this very conclusion."

" _We will see_.  _And your closing?_ "

Anna cleared her throat and folded her hands behind her back again. "Well," she started. "I, too, like my opponent see this case as fairly straightforward — however, it is merely a smaller picture of the events occurring around us today. Both Sunry and Elassa were merely pawns of their own governments, each of which had stakes in this . . . affair. As to the details, firstly, no one actually witnessed the homicide as it occurred."

" _Truth_."

"That doesn't mean a thing! He was there, running from the room!"

" _You have made your closing arguments, let the Arbiter make hers._ "

Anna cleared her throat. "Secondly, the Sith realized that Sunry was ending the affair, which meant they had one less outlet for data on their enemies. For Elassa's failure — as is regularly done with the Sith — she was killed."

"The Sith would not leave the medal of her killer clutched in her hand."

Anna spun towards him. "You have had your say. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me have mine."

" _If you speak out of turn again you will be forcibly ejected from this court._ "

He glared at Anna. Her smile was almost sickly sweet.

"She's in a mood," Carth said. Juhani and Mission nodded.

"In light of the evidence I think that involving the Ahto City laws would possibly be a breach of your own neutrality rules, as it would involve you in affairs that climbs the ranks of the Sith Empire to a  _very_  high level. Yes, it seems that a lot of people had high stakes in this cross-lines liaison."

" _Do you have proof of your assertions?_ " The Sith prosecutor merely stared at her, agape.

"I do," she said. "Here is data from the Sith embassy. It should be enough to demonstrate how high this conspiracy goes.

"That is stolen data!" the Sith protested. "It—"

"Please," Anna said. "Like you wouldn't have taken it if you were in my shoes. Besides, they shouldn't have left it lying around."

He huffed.

" _We will take this into consideration during our deliberations._ " He nodded, and the judges stood to leave. Anna took a step back.

"That's a big risk you just took," Jolee murmured.

"Yeah," she agreed. "But it should play out right."

"I hope so."

"This trial is less about his guilt or innocence, and more about whether or not we help or hinder the Republic," she replied. "If we get Sunry off, the Republic is not going to have their kolto exports impacted. It's less about justice and more about winning this war. We still need to rescue Bastila before Malak . . ." Anna swallowed, and ducked her head. ". . . We're losing time."

Jolee huffed, glancing back at Sunry. "Normally I'd disagree with you," he admitted. "But we hardly had time to waste on this anyway, and you're doing this as a favor to me. I can't argue with that."

The judges filed back in, and they both straightened as the Selkath took their seats. " _We have decided to absolve Mr. Sunry of the accusations against him. This is adjourned. Mr. Sunry is to be released and any confiscated property returned._ "

"What?" the Sith lawyer protested, taking a step towards the bar. Elora hurried forward, pulling her husband and Jolee both into an embrace. Anna patted the Sith's shoulder.

"Let it go," she said, as her lips tugged in the smallest of satisfied grins. "You just didn't win this one. There'll be another. This is a war after all."

"Just you wait," he hissed, eyes narrowing. His voice was low enough that the Selkath wouldn't be able to hear him over the sound of the vacating crowd. "Malak put out a reward on your head. You've got something coming for you, schutta."

Anna frowned, then turned and started back towards her companions.

Carth watched her approach, a frown tugging at his own mouth. She still walked like Anna (though he saw hints of Revan's step in her gait now), talked like Anna (though he also saw hints of Revan's speech). She'd hated Sunry, which she'd told the man in no small words after finding out that he was having an affair with a Sith adept, though he wasn't sure if it was because she was mad at the Sith — whether because Malak had attempted to kill her as Revan or because Anna was tired of them — or because she believed that it nearly made Sunry a traitor no matter what information he'd given the Republic through it. Or because for some reason in her mind she still respected at least the idea of a monogamous relationship and no, he wouldn't let himself have those thoughts. No matter what he'd once thought she was, or what she currently seemed to be, she was  _still_  Revan.  _Still_  Darth Revan,  _still_  a walking time-bomb that was primed to explode at any moment.

"Well," she said as she drew to a stop. "We'll go find out what Wann wants us to do and head out first thing in the morning, but we need some sleep first."

"Anna, you are sure about . . . this?" Juhani nodded to the front of the courtroom. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. The Republic is not getting their kolto exports docked further and that was what matters. We'll save a lot more lives. Come on. Let's deal with Wann and move on."

She started out of the courtroom, the others following, and he watched as her shoulders sagged the smallest bit. His heart twitched.

Maybe . . .

 _Still Darth Revan_ , he thought, squaring his shoulders.

"You all right?"

He hadn't even heard Jolee approach.

"Yeah. Fine."

#

"Barricade the door." Canderous turned and blasted one of the mad Selkath, pulling HK back into the room with him. The sole surviving mercenary collapsed against a wall, panting, hugging his gun to himself. "Get a hold of yourself."

The human merc looked up at him, eyes wide. Canderous rolled his eyes. "HK, watch the door." He threw the mercenary a ration bar and dropped down against the wall, biting his own nearly in half with one bite. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Can't believe I let her talk me into this shit," he muttered, downing the second half. The other merc still stared at him blankly. "Oh, snap out of it. Get it together. It's just a bunch of crazy fish."

"B-b-but the gnawing and the—"

"So they're crazy fish with a taste for flesh. We're safe in here."

There was a loud bang as at least one of the mad Selkath threw itself against the door. HK took the slightest step back, giving him better range on the door.

"Query: I could easily clear this base of crazed meatbags," he said, heading spinning to look back at Canderous. The Mandalorian waved his hand.

"I'm not putting up with your master if you get yourself dismantled." He threw his wrapper aside, then checked his gun. "Keep watch. We'll grab ourselves some shuteye."

The merc looked at him, eyes wide from terror, and Canderous rolled his eyes. "Fine.  _I'm_  grabbing some shuteye. Try not to get your ass killed while I'm doing so." Canderous leaned his head back against the wall, closing one eye. He'd gotten into the habit of sleeping with one eye cocked during the Wars and it'd saved his life since.

As he slipped off into sleep, he resisted the urge to shake his head. He was  _never_ letting Anna talk him into something like this again.


	45. Chapter 45

Jolee, Juhani, Carth and Anna walked out of their meeting with Wann looking equally perturbed, concerned and irritated. Mission dropped off her perch on the edge of Wann's public desk, and Zaalbar straightened off his wall. "So?"

Anna groaned, rubbing her forehead. "I sent Canderous into a deathtrap. The mercs were being hired to see why their illegal kolto harvesting base went quiet a few weeks ago. Canderous went down last night."

There was a brief pause. "But it's Canderous."

"Right. I'm hoping his innate ability to survive in impossible odds will help him out along with his healthy dose of insanity has kept him alive. Also, the fact that I sent HK with him will hopefully help."

"Either way we're going down after them," Jolee said.

"Now," Anna continued. "We don't—"

"I'm not staying on the ship." Mission straightened herself up, ignoring the warning growl from Zaalbar. "And you might need me if there's traps or locked doors or—"

"We're all going," Anna interrupted.

". . . Oh." Mission's skin grew the smallest bit darker.

"But I want you to be  _careful_. You got hurt on the Sith base and I don't want you to get hurt again, especially since we don't know what we're walking into. Whatever happened down there was  _not_  good, and I don't want anyone getting exploded by a mine or getting electrocuted or getting eaten or any of the fifty thousand other things that could possibly happen down there, all right? Everyone needs to be especially careful." There was a general nod.

" _Then you don't even have a reasonable guess?_ " Zaalbar asked. Anna shook her head.

"Not even an unreasonable one. There's a shuttle that'll take us down to the base in their bay. If we're ready we can leave." After all this had turned into a rescue mission, for one of their own. Everyone nodded, and T3 gave an affirmative whistle.

"All right then. Come on."

A few of the Republic officials and security officers looked up at them as they walked by, looking almost as if they were pitying them. Anna stared back at a few of them until they looked away.

"Seems to me that they think we're going on a suicide trip," Jolee murmured. Anna nodded.

"It's lucky for us that I don't believe in a no-win scenario," she replied, loudly enough that the loitering soldiers ever-so-delicately _trying_  not to look at them could hear. "Come on. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back."

They piled into the underwater transport, Carth settling behind the wheel. The transport was cramped, more because it wasn't designed for travel with a Wookiee than anything, and Carth quickly learned that it needed a heavy hand to fly it even though the autopilot engaged as soon as it was fully submerged.

"What's that?" Mission asked, pointing past Anna's nose as a large finned thing flew by.

"Firaxa," Jolee answered from the copilot's seat. "We're flying through a school, it looks like."

"They're a nasty breed of shark," Carth said, looking out the front window. "Kill anything that looks at them wrong."

"We should be safe in here." She sighed. "T3, when we get close to the base I want you to scan. Make sure that the air and environmental controls are still functioning." He chirped, and she looked back out the window into the alien landscape beyond. "I'd hate to find out that the base is flooded with those things."

They fell silent, waiting as the shuttle seemingly stayed in one place during its descent, marked only by the swimming of firaxa and schooling of fish. Finally T3 chirped, and something chimed on the console. "Coming up on the base," Carth said, straightening up as he returned his hands to the console.

"T3." The droid chirped again, then spun his head back and let out a series of whistles. "Good. He says the base's structural integrity is intact. We should be safe to land. Commander, take us in please?" After her short address she turned to look back out the viewport. He glanced over his shoulder and frowned, then turned the shuttle towards the dock.

As the ship docked, Anna unfastened her harness and made her way to the door, ignoring Carth's look as she began to pop the hatch open. She stuck her head through, looking around the landing bay, and then jumped out. "Nothing in here," she yelled, holding her hand out to grab Juhani's and pull her onto the dock. "Come on. We should hurry." She reached in to pull Mission through after the Cathar, Juhani reaching for Jolee once the Twi'lek was clear. As soon as Carth was clear T3 bounced out of the hatch and rolled onto the dock.

One of the doors slammed open, and they spun towards it. A Twi'lek mercenary ran out, his armor stained both red and a sickly green color. Underneath the grime it may have once been yellow. He collapsed to his knees maybe ten feet away from them.

"I saw the submersible!" he panted. "Quick, we have to get out of here, we have to leave."

Anna glanced back at the others, then knelt in front of him. "Hold still," she said quietly. "Where are you injured?"

"I'm fine.  _Fine_ ," he panted. "But we need to leave."

"When did you come down here?"

"Yesterday. With six others. We—"

"Did you have a Mandalorian with you? With a droid?"

"We were separated," he said, breath slowly coming back to him. "They're probably dead. I ran back here. I—we need to leave! We don't have time to talk about it! I managed to close the door after they killed everyone but I don't know how long it will—"

Anna, much to their surprise, smacked the side of the Twi'lek's head. He stopped rambling, eyes wide. Jolee took half a step forward. "Stop. Calm down. This is not helping anyone. I need to know what happened here, and I need to know quickly."

"The Selkath all went crazy! They started killing anything that moved and someone must have triggered the defense systems too cause the droids started as well. We came down and secured the first couple rooms . . . there were bodies everywhere . . . and then they came out of everywhere and — and they swarmed out and over us, and there was no way to stop them and we ran but I — I think I'm the only one that made it."

"You can stay here. But I have to get back into the station."

"No! No, I can't open the door! If we open it they'll get in, they'll—"

"Listen to me," she said. Her voice was harsh, but still somehow managed to be soft. "I have no choice. I sent my friend down here and I need to find him, and I need to find out what is going on. I might be able to stop all of this. But I need you to open the door. If there is anything behind it we will take care of it."

"Fine! If you want to die, then go! I'll stay here and be safe until some sort of  _real_  rescue comes!"

"There's a closet back there." Anna pointed. "They'll be attracted to us anyway." She stood, brushing grime off her pants. "Come on."

The latter was addressed to the others, as she brushed past the Twi'lek. He hurried away, glancing over his shoulder a few times. "We should be ready for anything to come through that door."

Nothing did, and Anna gripped her lightsabers as she started into the room beyond. The others filled in behind her, T3 chirping at her side and Carth and Mission bringing up the rear. The facility was cold, empty; true to the mercenary's description the rooms were littered with bodies, some contorted and stretched at the door as if trying to claw their way out.

"I don't see Canderous," Carth said, nudging one of the dead mercs with his boot. Jolee shook his head.

"That doesn't mean anything. This is a large facility."

"Someone should be optimistic here," Carth muttered, looking back up in time to catch the tail end of a glare from Anna as she turned and started into the next room.

The long hallway was just as eerie as the first room, framed on either side by thick windows. A shark swam by, merely a dark shadow on the black water beyond. Fluorescent lights flickered on the ceiling and along the windows, making the effect worse. The only sound was dripping water, mingling with the wet squelch of their boots on the durasteel floor.

"This is creepy," Mission murmured, hanging close to Zaalbar. The Wookiee groaned in reply.

"Sh," Juhani murmured. At the far end of the hall was another open room that they hurried to, a still-functioning terminal settled in the far corner. T3 chirped and rolled towards it without direction, plugging into it as they clumped around him.

"Give me a map?" Anna asked. He chirped, and she plugged in her datapad.

"Can you find out where the Selkath are?" Jolee asked. T3 gave a small annoyed chirp, then a map of the facility appeared on the terminal's screen. Small red dots marked lifesigns.

"Can we tell if any of those are Canderous?" Mission asked, standing on her tiptoes to see around Anna. T3 chirped irritably again.

"Lock the rooms with only one entrance," Anna said. "We'll avoid killing those Selkath if possible. Can you access the security droid locations?" He chirped, and blue dots appeared on the map. "Can you shut them down?" Another chirp, this one affirmative, and the droids flickered off the map. One blue dot persisted, pacing in a large area marked "Common Living."

"That might be them," Carth said, reaching around Jolee to point at the blue dot and the single red dot next to it.

"It probably is," Juhani agreed.

"It is," Mission answered, looking at her datapad. Anna pursed her lips. Right. Trackers.

"We'll hurry then," she said. "It looks like they're in trouble."

They hurried off, ignoring the small army of red blips hovering outside the only door to Common Living flickering on the terminal behind them.

#

"Query: When are we opening the doors, meatbag?"

Canderous shrugged, wrapping the kolto bandage around the scratch on his arm. "Gimme a moment, bucket." He nodded at the pazaak deck in front of them. "Your move anyway."

HK whirred as he paced by the door. "Analysis: Meatbags are far too squishy. How you survive with such limited hardware is beyond me."

"Do all right." Canderous tugged at the bandage in his teeth, the sharp bite of the kolto trailing over his tongue. "All right. We'll—"

Blaster fire sounded outside the door, along with the squawks and shrieks of the insane Selkath as they turned towards this new threat. Canderous rocketed to his feet, HK spinning for the door.

"Open her up," Canderous ordered, over a shriek from the occupied locker on the other side of the room. HK blasted the lock mechanism, and the door slid open to the whir of lightsabers.

"I always run into you in the best places, Ordo," Anna said over the hum, slamming the butt end of a lightsaber into one of the Selkath.

"Likewise," he replied, sending several rounds through one of the fishlike aliens.

"Statement: Master, it is good to see you in one piece."

"The sentiment is shared." She sliced through another Selkath, ducking a blast from Zaalbar's bowcaster as it whipped over her head.

There was a sizeable number of Selkath in the hallway, but with all of them it took very little time to clear them and pile into the common area. Mission bounded to Canderous and hugged him, the Mandalorian looking a little taken aback before he lifted her off the floor in a one-armed hug.

"You all right?" Jolee asked, nodding to Canderous' arm. He nodded, dropping the Twi'lek back to the floor.

"Just a scratch. Not even from one of the fish. Got it from a droid." He jerked his head. "Lost most of the mercs I was down here with. Absolute idiots. One of 'em ran for the docks, you probably saw him if he was still alive."

"Twi'lek?" Carth asked. He nodded. "Yeah, he's hiding back there."

"Other disappeared this morning. Probably got killed. Only survivor we found's this guy, but he's pretty incoherent." He jerked his finger at a locker, a small whimper confirming his words. "I wouldn't bother."

"Noted," Anna replied. "Anything else?"

"Second part of the facilities' cut off. Selkath ripped apart the hallway when they all went crazy, apparently. Only way there is the water. Found some records though." He tossed Anna a datapad that she switched on, Jolee, Juhani, and Carth immediately grouping over her shoulders. "It's an illegal kolto mining facility."

"We know," Juhani replied shortly.

"Yeah, don't get your tail in a not." She growled towards him. "Apparently there's record of a strange object being found closer to the Rift about four years ago during construction of this base. Sounds like our map."

Anna nodded, reading the description. "And then two weeks ago the harvesting equipment was finally fully operational and the first kolto was drilled, and then everyone went insane."

"That's what it looks like," Jolee agreed. "Four years ago—"

"Would have been the right time for Malak and I to have come through here, yes." She looked around. "We'll need to check by the outer airlocks and see if we can get into that facility."

"They're down around the corner. We nearly got cornered there last night." Canderous stepped around them and started out the door. Anna trotted after him.

"Did you see environmental suits?"

"Three. Two of them had sonic emitters. According to the stuff I found in the computer —"

"Interjection:  _I_  found them, meatbag."

"Yes, yes, what HK found in the computer, you need the emitters to stun the sharks. It'll last long enough to let you get by."

"Good," Anna said. "Glad I sent you down here. And didn't get you killed."

"I didn't know you cared," Canderous quipped, slamming the butt of his blaster into a door. "Here's the airlock entrance. Suits are in the locker."

She nodded, trotting over as the others filed in. Carth slid the door closed behind them, swinging his gun around to look for Selkath. As usual, it ended up facing Anna for the briefest second before he jerked it down with a sigh.

"Looks like both of these are small," Anna said, holding up one. "Mission, that means you're coming with me." She looked up, tossing her the suit. Mission caught it. "Everyone else, hold this airlock. Hopefully by the time we get back the Selkath will be a little less insane."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Juhani asked. Anna shrugged.

"I don't think we have much of a choice, Juhani," she replied, pulling on the bright yellow suit. Mission was trying to arrange her lekku inside the helmet. "The sooner we get out there and back, the better." She slammed the helmet down onto her head, the clamps sealing with a hiss. "You ready?"

"Yep!" Mission answered cheerfully, giving Zaalbar an awkward hug. "We'll be right back, big Z."

" _Be careful._ " He rubbed the top of her helmet.

"We'll try to stay in touch," Anna said, nodding towards Jolee and Canderous. "If we're not back in two hours . . ." She straightened her shoulders, decided not to finish her sentence, and strode off into the airlock. Mission trotted after her.

As soon as they'd left, Jolee waved his hand at Canderous, Juhani, HK, and Zaalbar. "Check the doors."

"What?"

"I need a moment."

Carth started towards the doors, but Jolee grabbed his arm. "Not you. Sit down."

"What?"

"Sit." He pushed him down into a crate. Carth staggered back, dropping onto it. "Now, you're going to listen." He opened his mouth to argue. "Hush."

"I don't remember asking you for advice."

"You didn't. But I'm giving you some anyway." Jolee lifted a crate and dropped it in front of him, settling himself cross-legged on top of it. "Now. I knew a—"

"God. Here we go."

"Hush, you," Jolee snapped in Canderous' direction. "I knew a man once. Traveled together for some time actually. Qore. Interesting fellow. Had a habit of popping his lips a lot. Bit annoying, if you ask me, but I've known far more annoying people, heh. Anyway, he was fairly intelligent, except for blundering around like a drunk bantha. He was tasked with getting into a hideout during the war with Exar Kun - only way to get in to disable the security for everyone else was through a cave full of mynocks and traps. Planned that way, after all."

Carth rested his hand on his fist, staring past Jolee at the wall.

"Anyway Qore was good at spotting the traps — saved his men more than once from tripwires, heh, and we know how annoying those are — but he got so focused on them that he walked his team into a mynock nest. Got himself and most of his squad killed." Jolee reached forward and cuffed the back of his head. "Are you listening?"

"Are you relevant yet?" Carth asked, rubbing his head.

"Don't give me that," he retorted. "I'm making a point."

"Then maybe you should  _make_  it."

Jolee pursed his lips. "I have to do  _everything_ around here," he complained. "Point is, you're Qore. Basically."

"I fail to see the similarity."

"Force! I'm dropping the 'fairly intelligent' then." At Carth's glare, he shook his head. "You're focusing on the details. The minutiae."

"If this is about Revan, I don't think  _that's_  'min—'"

"Shush. The point is that's all you're trying to see. Since the  _Leviathan_  have you seen any hint of Revan in her? Any attempt to take over the galaxy . . . fondness for dark robes . . . wildly massacring people . . . any force lightning or . . ." As Carth's frown deepened, Jolee took that as an invitation to continue. "Believe it or not, I've seen quite a bit. And either you like her, or you don't. You can't keep dancing around the issue. Especially . . ." He wagged a finger at him. "Especially if you're going to continue in engaging in the shenanigans that happened in my medlab."

"What?!" That successfully got Carth's attention.

"What?!" Canderous echoed from the door.

"Sooner or later you're going to have to figure it out. And, if you'll indulge the observation of an old man—"

"I don't particularly want to, but I suspect I'm going to anyway," Carth replied.

"Hush, you. I don't have to help you out, you know. I could just keep to myself and let you all fumble blindly around the galaxy." He  _hmph_ 'd and leaned back on his crate. "I'd say that the way you feel goes a little past liking, doesn't it?"

Carth frowned, looking away. "I don't need to be analyzed, Jolee." Jolee shrugged and stood.

"Well, figure it out. Preferably before she and Malak run into one another again." Jolee settled down on another crate, arms crossed as he stared at the airlock doors. Carth scrubbed his face, leaning on his hands.

While he'd never tell Jolee, the man was right. He'd been slowly realizing that he  _couldn't_  see Revan when he looked at Anna — it hadn't occurred to him until Jolee had lectured him that she hadn't smiled since they'd landed on Manaan, nor did he think he'd heard her laugh. She'd been quiet and withdrawn, spending more time finding out just how difficult it was to get away from people on a tiny ship than even speaking to Mission or Canderous. And T3 followed her around like a pet begging for attention . . .

He jumped when he felt something against one of the pieces of fabric between the metal plates of his armor. He looked down, and T3 chirped up at him. The droid's manipulator arm was extended, and if he didn't know any better he'd think that the droid was petting him.

The droid chirped, head bobbing slightly. Carth hesitantly reached out and rested his hand on the droid's head, tracing a path with his fingers that he'd seen Anna's —  _Anna_ , not  _Revan_  — hand take several times. T3 chirped happily.

He glanced at the airlock doors, thinking about Anna and Mission out in the deep water. They'd be a while — they had no idea how far the map was, movement underwater was slowed, and there was likely an army of sharks between them and it. He hunched into himself further, brows creasing.

Yeah. He definitely had a lot to think about.

#

It was about two hours later that the facility was rocked with an enormous explosion, sending all of them to their feet. Jolee flipped open the commlink. "Anna. Do you read?"

Static.

"T3, do a scan," Carth demanded. The droid rolled away and chirped, then stood still for a few moments before releasing a series of whistling chirps.

"Nothing," Jolee confirmed.

"The explosion may have interfered with communciations," Juhani said calmly, her eyes closed. "I can still sense Anna, after all."

"Mm," Jolee agreed. "Doesn't mean much, though."

"It does not. But it is better than nothing."

"Well let's hope 'better than nothing' means they'll be back soon," Canderous said gruffly.

They waited anxiously for nearly another hour, Carth giving up and finally pacing near the doors. He was still thinking through his earlier lecture from Jolee and now, perhaps never having an opportunity to possibly smooth things over . . .

He was right next to the airlock when the outer door slid open, and he and Jolee nearly collided to look through. He grabbed the wheel and pulled the inner door open as soon as the outer door closed, admitting two wet and dripping yellow environmental suits.

"Got it." Anna said, pulling off her helmet. Mission jerked her own off, shaking out her lekku with a frown. "The Selkath should be fine now as well, but we had to destroy the harvesting mechanism."

"There was a  _huge_  firaxa out there!" Mission said, dropping her suit to the ground. Zaalbar patted her head again. "Absolutely enormous."

"It must have been what riled everything up. Either way, we should head back up quickly and tell Wann what happened. I'm sure he won't like to know about the harvesting equipment."

Canderous nodded. "Yeah. 'Sides, been down here too long. Place is creepy."

Anna punched him in the arm as she walked by. Carth stared after her as everyone began to file back out and head towards the shuttle, then took a deep breath and began to follow.

He'd worry about it later.


	46. Chapter 46

Wann was anxiously pacing the shuttle bay when the submersible surfaced, motioning some nearby guards forward to help them out. Anna jumped out first, cracking her neck.

"Facility's fine. There's some survivors in both parts, including Selkath."

"What happened?" Wann asked.

"But," Anna continued, ignoring his question. "I had to destroy your kolto mining equipment. Your little treaty breaking machine woke up a rather large and  _very_  angry shark. I'd recommend you don't do it again, because said very large shark is probably what made all your Selkath workers go insane and rip apart your scientists and workers."

"What?!"

"Either way the facility is safe and I got what I came for." She patted him on the shoulder as she started by. "So we'll go back to saving the galaxy, if you don't mind."

"Wait," he called after her before she reached the door. "The Selkath got word about  _something_. They showed up here about an hour and a half ago talking about an explosion and needing answers. I—"

Anna sighed. "They're right outside, aren't they?"

Wann nodded.

"They're going to arrest everyone then, I suppose?" Jolee asked.

"That appears to be the intent."

"Well, Mission and I destroyed the harvesting equipment, but I doubt they know who was involved. So you all can go back to the ship. T3, stick with me, since you've got most of the data they'll want."

"Statement: Master, I am detecting a limited number of meatbags and droids. It is likely that —"

"We are not fighting through the Ahto City police," she chided. "But I want off this planet as soon as possible, so the rest of you need to get the  _Hawk_  ready to fly."

"Yeah. You got it," Carth replied. She swallowed. The expression on his face was strange, almost confused — more confused than he'd seemed since the  _Leviathan_ , an expression that felt like it should remind her of something.

"Right. So." She removed her various weapons and slid them into her bag, trading them for the datapad from the station. She slipped that into her waistband, under her robe. "I'll go get arrested, and as soon as I get out we'll head off. All right?"

"It is likely the best way to deal with this," Juhani agreed as Anna handed her the messenger bag. Jolee shrugged.

"If you think it's best."

"Anna, I'm the one who destroyed it," Mission protested. " _I_  should—"

"No." Anna held up her hand. "They'll respect me a hell of a lot more than you, so it'll move faster." Mission frowned, but nodded.

"I'm with the droid." They glanced back at Canderous, who shrugged. "What? I'm not fond of  _anyone_ getting arrested."

"Wait until we're gone and head back to the ship. I'll convince them that T3 and I were alone." T3 chirped happily. "Come on, little guy." She patted his head and started towards the door.

"Did you really destroy my harvester?" he asked Carth quietly, after the door slid back closed.

"Yes."

"Damn it."

#

" _Hawk_ 's still okay?"

:: _The ship is fine. We can fly anytime._ ::

"Good." She sighed, rubbing her forehead with her sleeve. Damn Selkath and their love affair with their own court system. Not that the court system made a lick of sense in the first place. "I just hope we haven't been delayed too much for Basti—"

T3 let out a sudden, shrill chirp of alarm.

Anna spun in time to grab a dark-robed Sith's arm as he stabbed a knife toward her. She pushed him back with the Force, slamming him into one of the walls. T3 hit him with his stun stick.

An arm snaked around her neck, and she grabbed it and pulled her other attacker over her shoulder using his momentum and the Force, finally getting her hands on the spare lightsaber T3 carried and had given her on their way out of the court. Just as it ignited a third attacker kicked it out of her hands, and it clattered against the far wall. T3 opened fire. She'd been caught flat-footed, something she didn't like. She hadn't needed to pay attention. That the Sith would be so bold on Manaan –

A brief, terrifying thought crossed her mind. These weren't just Sith. Vandar and Vrook had spoken of –

This wasn't good.

She tried to go for the small holdout she'd taken from T3, pushing her attackers back with her own strength rather than the Force. T3 continued to fire, finally bringing one of her attackers down.

Something tugged inside her. Something associated with that damned bond, something . . . Anna staggered back, her momentary distraction ending up with her blocking a knife with her hand before pushing out through the Force near-instinctively, sending two of her three attackers flying with the suddenness of the wave she sent at them. The other dodged her attack and slammed something against her side. She jammed her elbow into his cloth-covered face, head suddenly light and pulsing and legs weak as he staggered back.

The sound of blaster fire started to attract attention and running feet announced people hopefully coming to her aid. And like the men had come they left, disappearing into thin air.

Anna stared around her, puzzled for a second. Assassins wouldn't leave unless – she wavered and collapsed to her hands and knees, her breath nearly painful. She tried to stand, one hand gripping T3. The droid chirped worriedly as she tried to push herself up, tilting his head to let her get a better grip, but she couldn't get her feet under her.

"We need medics here!" someone yelled. Everything seemed to be moving more slowly than usual . . . T3 chirped frantically, but she couldn't seem to make out what he was saying . . .

"Warn . . ." it was getting hard to catch her breath. "Warn the . . ."

Someone caught her before she could collapse completely. "Medics!" whoever had caught her yelled, and she caught the flash of a red-orange uniform as her eyes blurred.

"Master Jedi!" The voice was getting further away as her head swam. Something pressed hard against her side. "We have medics on the way, just stay with me!"

Her hand weakly wrapped itself around one of T3's struts, the droid's worried chirping cutting through her haze. Unable to fight whatever was flooding her system long enough to enter a trance, she felt herself slip off into unconsciousness.

#

Carth paced in the main hold. Jolee's words down in the Rift station were still echoing in his head, and with Anna being arrested (again) he hadn't been able to tell her, to apologize to her, to do whatever he needed to do. And it did not take a half-hour to get from the Selkath courts back to the ship. The Sith would be stupid to attack them on Manaan, which gave them leeway, and even though no one had let down their guard they had felt fairly safe letting Anna leave the court with T3.

The gnawing feeling in his stomach didn't like it.

He jumped as Juhani and Jolee stormed into the hold, both from completely different directions. Jolee glanced around at the others. "Anna not back yet?"

Canderous flipped a card. "Nope." Mission answered his flip.

"We must find her. I fear something has happened."

The Mandalorian scoffed. "The Sith would be stupid to attack her. Even if it's just her and the droid I can't see there being –" Beeping cut him off.

"We're getting hailed." Carth pushed their pazaak game aside and opened the channel. "This is the _Ebon Hawk_."

:: _This is the Republic Embassy on Manaan. You're Jedi Kyjjl's ship, correct?_ ::

"Yes. Why?"

:: _We need you to report to the Embassy immediately. We're sending an escort_.::

"What's going on?" Jolee demanded. The hold had gone eerily silent as they stared at the intercom as if they could make him answer.

:: _We can't tell you. Not yet. Wait for the escort_.:: The feed cut out.

Something chirped over the Hawk's droid communicator. Mission dove for it. "Yeah, T3?"

He chirped. She read it off the screen. "Guys, he says Anna got attacked just on this side of the courts."

Anyone who hadn't been on their feet was. "By who?" Carth demanded. T3 chirped in answer.

"Assassins," Jolee said heavily, taking a slow step back.

"They spoke about them on Dantooine, before we left," Juhani said quietly in the silence. "They were treated as a myth though. I did not believe they existed."

"Trust me," Jolee said as he pulled his robe off the counter by the synthesizer and pulled it on. "As soon as you think you've seen it all with the Sith, they quite happily do something new."

"The ramp is closed, correct?" Juhani asked. They couldn't be sure that they weren't being targeted as well, and if assassins had taken

"Yeah. Like it always is." Canderous picked up his blaster. "What? We're waiting for Republics to show up?" He scoffed. "We know where the Embassy is. These assassins can be killed just like any other."

"I'm with Canderous. Anna's going to need us, and fast. What if they get through the Embassy?" Carth shrugged. "They're trained at killing Jedi, not at killing us."

"Do you think Anna's dead?" Mission asked quietly. There was a pause.

"Come on, droid," Canderous grumbled. HK raised his blaster.

"Statement: With pleasure, meatbag."

They closed the ship up and set off for the Embassy. It seemed that, even on the streets, word of the attack had spread fast and people avoided them. It could also have been that they walked with weapons in hand, even if lightsabers remained deactivated and blasters still had their safeties on.

So they made it to the Embassy. Roland Wann, whom some of the group had met, waited at the door.

"I thought you may come without waiting for the escort," he said, hurriedly closing the door behind them.

"Do you know what happened?"

"She was just in Ahto West when she was jumped. That's all I know."

"Where is she?"

"Follow me."

They followed Wann back to the medical bay in the back of the embassy, and the door to it opened into chaos.

Kolto had spilled over the floor, the valuable substance leaking into the steel. Medics were grouped around the kolto tank, sitting opened, former occupant wrapped in thick blankets in the middle of the medics frantically attempting to do something to her. T3 chirped by the door, rocking back and forth on his struts, obviously wanting to rush forward and do whatever he could but knowing that he'd only get in the way. Carth grabbed Wann's arm, ignoring the looks that were exchanged behind his back.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"I intend to find out." He jerked his arm out of Carth's hand and strode forward, leaning into the mess of medics and personnel.

"Move," Jolee nudged Carth aside and hurried after him, kneeling down next to the stretcher piled with shivering blankets.

Wann hurried back, glancing at Jolee as he did. "She was attacked by assassins, as you know. They apparently used some sort of . . ." He waved his hand. "Unknown poison on her. They put her in the kolto and it aggravated the effect."

"They probably expected that," Canderous said from where he was leaning back against the wall, looking far more relaxed than he should. "Planned for something that'd get worse."

"Probably," Juhani agreed. Mission was still staring past them, hand over her mouth.

"How bad were her wounds?" Carth asked, blankly staring at the clump of medical personnel and one Jedi grouped around the body on the floor.

Wann waved one of the officers sort of standing around and supervisor over, and the man cleared his throat. "She received at least twenty wounds, mostly superficial and defensive in nature. There were four major wounds, all to her chest or abdomen. Most hit muscle; one superficially nicked her diaphragm. The worst punctured her lung. Centimeters higher and it would have been her heart." He glanced back. "We're moving her to a private room that can be kept under guard, as the kolto exaggerated the effect of the poison. Until we know what it is we're going to have to treat symptomatically and hope she's strong enough to metabolize it out. We've taken blood samples and can hopefully synthesize an antidote."

"How long will this take?" Juhani asked. They looked at her. "She would remind you of our limited time schedule. We have wasted enough time on Manaan as it is."

They were distracted when the medics popped the stretcher piled with blankets to full height, hurrying it off into one of the small private rooms lining the edge of the kolto tanks. Carth pushed past Wann and the medic, the others wasting no time to follow him.

They clumped around the entrance as they arranged her more carefully, though she was mostly obscured by the medics. They started back out, and Carth slipped through as they were filing through. Mission managed to bob through after him, her small frame helping her stay unnoticed. The others pushed through as soon as the last vacating officer left.

Anna looked horrible, worse than the few nights previously when she'd woken up having experienced parts of Bastila's torture. Her skin was ashen, beads of sweat running down her face as her body fought against whatever was attacking it. Small tremors chased the sweat across her body, almost as if she were freezing cold in the warm room. Jolee was looking at a datapad and frowning, one eye on the machine reading her vitals. Mission carefully rested a hand on hers, skimming her worriedly.

"I can't believe they thought this was a good idea on  _Manaan_ ," Carth said quietly.

"Probably figured she'd messed them up so much it was worth it," Canderous replied. "Hard to not do something stupid when you've got nothing else to lose."

"What is the embassy's security going to be like?" Carth asked, looking back at Wann.

"The entire Embassy is on full military alert, and will remain so until the threat is neutralized. We don't have many full-time soldiers here, and even fewer elites, but the ones that could be pulled off kolto duty have been. The fact that a Jedi was taken down on Manaan is likely to cause a stir, and we need to be prepared in case the Sith try to take advantage of this."

"I doubt they will  _not_ ," Juhani said. "This was likely their goal."

"We'll have to supplement your security," Carth continued. "I've little doubt any remaining assassins could rip through your security with little effort. These aren't frontline soldiers you have." Wann pursed his lips, but nodded. "Jolee, T3, I want you to stay here."

"Already planning on it," Jolee said, obviously only paying a small amount of attention as he flicked through the datapad.

"HK, stand guard outside the room," Carth started, pointing at the droid. "No one in or out without an identification card or unless it's one of us. Canderous, take Zaalbar and patrol this part of hte embassy. Juhani, Mission, go and find out whatever you can from any eyewitnesses near the courts."

"What about you?" Mission asked, tearing her eyes away from Anna's trembling form.

"I want to interview the man who brought her in."

"We've debriefed him," Wann said.

"And I want to debrief him  _again_ ," Carth retorted. "T3, contact us if anything changes." The droid chirped.

They filed out of the room, Jolee watching them for a few seconds. T3 chirped, and he looked down at the droid.

"I think he may be over himself," Jolee murmured, settling down on the edge of the small medical cot. "At least it'll take the pressure off."

Another chirp, and he watched as T3 gently extending his manipulator and rested it on Anna's hand, a small warbling note escaping his vocabulator. Jolee smiled slightly and patted his head. "She'll be fine."

If she wasn't, this would probably turn into an awfully short war.

#

Mission and Juhani were having, compared to the others, the better luck. The attack, with various additional falsities, was all anyone spoke of in Ahto West.

They finally located the area of the attack, marked by a couple cleaning droids valiantly trying to clean up a fair amount of blood and several overturned, empty kolto barrels. Nearby was a clump of Republic soldiers, and Mission caught them glancing over at them nervously as they inspected the scene. She headed over.

"Hi," she started. "Were you here about an hour ago?"

"We might have been," one of them said hesitantly. "Why?"

"I am Juhani, and this is Mission," Juhani stepped in. "We are close friends of the Jedi who was attacked here. We just wished to know if you had seen anything."

"Sawyer did," one of them said. "He rocketed over first, but he was too shaken to say if he saw anything or not. I mean, who the hell's fool enough to attack a Jedi? Well, except the Sith, but they can't. Not here on Manaan!"

"Did you see anything else?"

"Not really. By the time we got over there we just had Sawyer holdin' that girl and yelling for a med team. We didn't even know she was a Jedi until that droid grabbed her lightsabers."

"Nah, I knew she was. She was one of those Jedi who got Sunry off, remember?"

"I didn't see the trial. I was on duty."

"What  _else_  happened?"

"I-I'm really not sure. I just know the med team got here and whisked her off and Sawyer got pulled back to the Embassy for debriefing. I don't know. It's just a little nerve-wracking now that the Sith've done something like this. I mean, who knows what's next – they going to start attacking us on sight now? I really don't like how that group's been eying us recently . . ."

Juhani and Mission glanced over. A group of Sith stood clumped to the other side of the courtyard, but how they knew they were "eying" them through their full helmets neither was fully sure. "Thanks," Juhani said, stepping away. Mission followed her.

"Hey, Carth," she said into their communicator.

:: _What's up, Mission?_ ::

"Look for a guy named Sawyer. Some of the soldiers said he got taken back for debriefing. Apparently he was the guy who found her."

:: _Thanks. Be careful out there. The Embassy's worried this is going to escalate tensions on Manaan. We can't get caught in the crossfire_.::

"Carth, we've got everything under control." She closed the comm and nodded at Juhani. "Someone else may have seen something as well."

"The Ahto City police may have as well." Juhani nodded. "They do have security cameras everywhere."

Mission nodded. "Will they give us a look?"

Juhani smiled. "I suspect they will."

 


	47. Chapter 47

Carth flipped his communicator closed, breaking off from Canderous' route with a nod at the Mandalorian and heading back to Wann's desk in the front. "I have a question."

"I might be able to help you."

"If you had a man brought back here for debriefing, where would you take him?"

"You mean Ensign Sawyer? He was pretty shaken up when we got him back here. You sure you want to talk to him?" Carth's glare was enough of an answer. "Follow me."

A few minutes later Carth found himself in the mess, sitting across from the still-nervous Sawyer. He felt bad for him. He was nineteen if that, and if he'd always been stationed on Manaan he'd probably never seen someone gravely injured. Every few minutes he'd wipe his hands on his pants again.

They were silent for a few minutes, Carth studying the poor ensign and Sawyer studying the table. He finally spoke. "So you, uh, probably saved Anna's life."

"I already told my superiors what happened, Commander," he murmured. Carth nodded.

"I know. I'm not here for that. Just think of me as . . ." He sighed. "I'm going to stop the men that did this to her."

He nodded. "Uh, okay. Um . . ."

"Why did you go over there?"

"I'd heard some noises, sir, but then someone opened fire. I thought it might be one of us Republics getting ganged up on – tensions have been high since Sunry's trial and the Sith base getting wiped out, so you know, who's to say what those bastards are up to?"

"So what happened?"

"I came 'round the corner, and there were these guys ganging up on her. And as I turned the corner she just kind of stumbled, then stuck her hand out, and two of the guys nearly flew over the railing. So as I'm going for my blaster, I'm already freaked out because she's a Jedi getting it knocked out of her, and I see a third guy just . . ." he trailed off, taking a deep breath. "Just jam a knife into her and they disappear into thin air!"

"So you yelled for a medic?"

"I didn't know what else to do. Is-do you know if she's gonna be okay?"

"She will," Carth said firmly, more to reassure himself. "What did the assassins look like?"

"Uh. I don't really know. They were totally covered, head to toe, and it was all black. Looked like they had some kind of mask or something on that covered their faces. Apart from that I-I have no idea."

"Hm." Carth frowned. Sawyer looked at him expectantly.

"Do-do you know what they were, sir?"

Carth shook his head. "I'd heard rumors in the fleet about assassins who were trained to hunt Jedi, but I thought they were just that – rumors."

"Do you think they'll be back?"

He sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine. I hope not." He opened his comm. "Juhani, Mission, I want you back in the Embassy as soon as possible."

:: _Why?_ ::

"I'll explain later." He closed the link. "And, Ensign, I wouldn't be concerned. If they do come back, they'll be after Anna. And you did a good job. You may very well have saved her life."

He gave him a weak smile. "Thank you, sir."

"Get some rest. You look like you need it."

He pushed away from the table, standing and starting back towards the medical bay. Sawyer stared after him blankly. Carth rubbed his forehead, sighing.  _We all need some rest._

#

Technically, they slept in one of the Embassy's visitor rooms upstairs. In reality, they were neither asleep nor in the place they were supposed to be. Juhani, Carth, and Jolee ended up crammed into Anna's small private room, and Canderous, Zaalbar, and Mission ended up "sleeping" on medical cots outside the door. HK continued to stand guard while T3 anxiously wandered the tense Embassy.

The next day, nothing changed. The day after that, the status quo remained. Anna was whimpering and shaking and obviously alternatively suffering from delirium or hallucinations or both, but her vitals had stabilized. Mission and Juhani, by Carth's order confined to the Embassy, joined in keeping an eye out for any more assassins. Jolee was the only one who got any real sleep over the three days that Anna was unconscious, since he spent the first two trying to work her into a healing trance and, once he was successful, passed out on a cot they'd brought in while snoring loudly enough to wake up anyone who wasn't in a coma for the entire third day.

Carth wasn't sure what to do. He was too anxious to patrol the embassy, so he sat in the room with Jolee but he was still asleep. He sat outside the room for a while, but determined that HK might actually blast him without Anna around to order him not to, so he left. He alternated rounds with Canderous, Juhani, and the tag-team of Mission, T3 and Zaalbar but everyone was mostly silent, so he inevitably wandered off. He ended up watching the computer as it ran through every known poison in the galaxy, finally coming back to the room when the computer got too dull and obviously unhelpful. He needed to be out there, doing something, killing those damn assassins wherever they were . . .

When he made it back to the room Jolee ways awake, examining his lightsaber with a screwdriver.

"Does everyone hate me?" he asked as he closed the door. Jolee shrugged.

"Why would they?"

"I don't know! They just keep . . .  _looking_  at me, and –"

"You think they hate you because they keep looking at you?" Jolee raised an eyebrow.

"It's because I didn't deal with this, isn't it? Because I had problems with this whole Revan thing?"

"Probably." Jolee tightened a screw on his lightsaber, finishing up whatever repairs or modifications he'd been doing. "In fact, I might say it's a rather excellent idea."

Carth groaned, dropping down into a chair. "That's not fair. I was –"

"Right. Paranoid."

He glared at him. "How is she?"

Jolee shrugged, glancing over at the bed. "Hard to tell, now that she's in a trance. 'Bout the same, maybe a little less dead. It looks like she's working the toxin or whatever out of her system, but I can't tell you how long it'll take."

"That's good."

There was another short, awkward silence. "I'm going to get some food. It's better in this place than on the ship — you want anything?" Jolee stood.

"No, no, it's – you need a break. Go. I'll keep an eye on her."

Jolee left, glancing back as he shut the door. Carth slid into his vacated chair, glancing down at Anna. She was still pale, but her trembling and incoherent ranting had nearly disappeared and the machines were registering her pulse as strong and solid – a definitive improvement over the previous night. He gently picked up her hand and held it in between his, resting his forehead on it gently.

"Carth?" It came in almost a whisper. He glanced down – she looked up at him, gray eyes still heavily lidded from exhaustion. He grinned.

"Yeah."

"Didn't think you'd be here," she murmured. "Thought you were still mad."

He decided to skirt around the statement. "How are you feeling?"

She coughed. "Like hell. Is everyone safe? Whe-where are we?"

"Yeah. We're in the Republic Embassy. We still don't know what they hit you with."

"Don't . . . pretty sure it doesn't matter now." Anna smiled up at him weakly.

Carth gently rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "Do you remember anything?"

She shook her head. "It happened so fast, Carth . . . It was over so fast, I didn't even know what . . . They were stronger than me, and I think they w-were feeding off me or something, and . . ." She looked away, taking a deep breath.

He nudged past the cords and wires connecting her to the machines and slipped onto her cot, pulling her against him. She complied, nestling her head against his chest. "Don't worry. It'll take more than the Force to get to you."

The only noise for a while was the steady beeping of a heart monitor and the whirr of some unknown gadget. He thought she'd fallen asleep until she spoke.

"So you aren't mad at me?" She already sounded a little stronger.

Carth shook his head, leaning back against the headboard. "No. I-I tried to be. I  _wanted_  to be. I wanted to blame you for everything. But I . . . I can't. Mission was right. Whatever you were, that isn't who you are now – and I don't think you'll ever be Revan again." Anna was quiet. Carth sighed. "This isn't the best time for this."

"No." Her voice was little more than a whisper. "I-I want to hear what you have to say. Don't worry about me."

"Uh, okay. Um . . ." He took a deep breath. "When the Jedi did whatever they did, they gave you a second chance. But it's more than that. There's this destiny just waiting for you and . . . and I'm just afraid it's going to swallow you, if you're alone. When we get to the Star Forge, and . . . I just feel like you're going to have to make a choice. And I-I want to give you a reason to make the right one." She didn't answer, busy playing with one of the clips on his jacket. "Anna?"

"I don't want you hurt because of me."

He shook his head. "No, Anna it - back before the  _Leviathan_  I promised to protect you. If I can't do that now . . ." He sighed. "And look what happens. I'm not with you and you nearly die. If you had, I don't know if I could have forgiven myself."

"It wasn't your fault, Carth."

"It feels like it. It feels like I let you down because I was angry at you for something out of your control." She finally flicked her eyes back up to his, hardly moving in the process. "You gave me a future. I-I want to give you one. With me. I-I think I could love you, if you give me the chance."

She answered with a slow, shaking breath, leaning her head back down on his chest. He swallowed. "I . . . I'm not actually sure what to say," she finally whispered. He pulled her closer to him. "Except that I have no idea what to say."

He'd readied himself for this. Just in case. With Anna it was impossible to know what she was thinking most of the time, and it was even worse when she was tired or drugged. Her hand was back to playing with the loose clasp on his jacket that he'd been meaning to mend for quite a while. "I-I suppose . . . I can't answer that in kind." He closed his eyes, having half-expected that answer.  _Damn it, Onasi. You waited too long, and_ –

"It's Canderous, isn't it?"

"What?!" Anna jolted, then lurched for the side of the bed. Carth held her as her sudden movement sent her retching into the bucket at her bedside, . She finally sat back up with his help. "Sorry." He shook his head. "But –  _Canderous_? Why? He's a good friend and loyal, despite his questionable moral center." She wrinkled her nose. "Although he'd probably be okay with it. Tell me we'd produce strong children or something, just to bother me."

Even though he was trying to hide his feeling that the floor had just disappeared from under him, Carth laughed.

"That isn't at  _all_  what I meant. Oh, Force." She collapsed back to her pillows, holding her head. "I moved too fast."

"Then what did you mean?"

Anna sighed, then looked back at him. "I don't  _think_  I  _could_  love you, Carth. I already know that I  _do_." Carth swallowed, unable to pull away from her eyes. "And I  _have_. I don't know since when, but I know it was before the  _Leviathan_. I think I just pretended I didn't." She sighed heavily, looking away and shaking her head. "Things were a lot easier before that damn ship."

Carth sighed, pulling her back into his arms. She nestled herself against his chest again. "You've got that right."

They were silent. Carth finally spoke again. "So we're on the same page?"

"Save it, flyboy," Anna murmured. He pulled her head up. "We're good."

He kissed her forehead. "So-" Something clicked at the door and they jolted apart, one of his blasters flashing into his hand. Anna gripped his arm, her eyes suddenly wide. "It's them."

"How can you tell?" How would they have gotten into the embassy?

"I-"

"Where the hell is HK?" Carth hissed.

"Where's my lightsabers?" She pushed the thin sheet covering her off, reaching for one of the ports that had been keeping her from dehydrating.

"T3 has your spare." He pushed her back down. "You're in no condition to do anything."

She tried to mask the raw concern in her voice, but it still cut through. "If it's really them you won't stand a chance, Carth!" He took a step away, his arm sliding out of her hand. She collapsed back against the bed without his support.

The door flipped open, then closed. Carth swallowed, hand tight on his blaster.

"Lord Malak warned us that you may be difficult to kill," a voice said, though the speaker remained invisible. "Fortunately, we arrived prepared."

Anna spotted the comm on Carth's belt and reached for it, pulling herself up behind him. A quick flick, and the channel opened just as the trio of men shimmered into view. "Turn yourselves right around and walk out that door," Carth growled, blaster ready.

"And these are the guards they left you," one of the men taunted. "A droid and a simple pilot."

Carth fired as he stepped forward. He deflected the bolt, and he fired again. Another deflection. The assassin raised his hand –

"No!" Anna gasped, holding her hand past Carth. Lightning arched out of the assassin's fingers and she focused, pulling it into herself and a wall of energy she'd tried to draw up. The lightning fizzled in midair and she collapsed bback to her bed, exhausted just from that block.

But they used the distraction to their advantage. One of the guards slammed Carth back into a wall, sending him sliding limp to the ground. Anna edged away from the approaching assassins, even though she knew she would get nowhere and even if she did, she couldn't leave Carth with them. The edge of her cot appeared more suddenly than she'd expected, and she yelped as she dropped over the edge. Seizing the opportunity she ripped the wires out of her arms, rolling underneath. Someone swore.

Anna took a quick check of her predicament. No weapons. Exhaustion. Her heart raced, and her head pounded with exertion despite the fact that she'd barely done a thing. Her hospital loose shift clung to her, damp with sweat. She was in no condition to fight — she closed her eyes, reaching towards the Force. It wasn't the strong storm she could usually reach, but rather felt distant and a bit hollow.

Anna tucked herself up against the wall, just avoiding a hand as it grabbed at her. She slammed her heel into it with as much force as she could muster, pressing herself further back. Besides, the Force would be of little use to her now — they could feed off the Force, feed off  _her_. She knew that the others had to have heard through the comm, she only had to wait them —

Something — the Force, she thought, judging by the characteristic tingle — wrapped around her bare ankle, and she barely had time to yelp or scream as she found herself slamming into the far wall, the wind leaving her lungs in a woosh. She curled into a ball, pain exploding through her back from where she'd hit the wall. She thought she could hear Carth yelling something as a hand grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet and slamming her back into the wall. The assassin's knife appeared at her throat, and she turned her head away.

"Lord Malak sends his regards," the man hissed, cloth-covered face mere inches from hers. She couldn't suppress the whimper that slid through her lips as she tried to struggle, feeling the knife prick into her neck.

"Do what you want to me," she hissed, one hand weakly wrapping around his wrist. "But only me. Leave them out of it."

"That's interesting then." His head turned slightly, taking in where Carth was pinned back against the wall, a long pike at his throat. His eyes met hers, wide with concern.

_We have to._

_We can't._

_Carth . . ._

His eyes hardened slightly, resolve settling in his jaw.

"But it's you we're after."

She closed her eyes as she felt the knife dig in.

But what he hadn't been watching was her other hand, which had been slowly rising. As the knife began its cut, piercing the skin just under her right ear, she jammed her fingers into a point on his wrist that would lock it, then brought her other hand hard into the back of his head. His head slammed forward into the wall behind hers, sending him collapsing to the floor. There was a shout as Carth lunged off the floor to grab his attacker's pike, swinging it into the man's head. He dodged, and Carth spun the weapon around to jam it through his stomach.

Anna picked up a steel medical tray and swung it at a third assassin, the tools on it scattering. He dodged it, coming up behind it and dealing a single blow into her stomach. She gasped, the reserve of strength she had found suddenly giving out and her knees nearly collapsed. Adrenaline flared in her again, and she pushed forward through the breathlessness to slam into his shoulder, trying to get her hands back on her tray.

She misjudged either her step or her strength, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and a second around her neck and used her momentum to spin her back against his chest. She screamed — it may have been for Carth — as the metallic hiss of a knife flipping open filled her ears. Carth swore, taking a step towards them.

"Not a step further!" he demanded. Anna struggled again as another assassin shimmered into existence, slamming the end of his pike into Carth's back as he paused and pinning him to the floor. She threw herself against his arm again, trying to break free. The knife dug into her flesh and she stilled, her heart pounding so hard that she knew he must feel it. She met Carth's eyes across the room again as the knife began to open the cut the other had already began, responding with a low hiss of pain. Carth tried to struggle against the pike, the staff digging even harder into his spine.

"Carth, stop!"

"Anna—"

Something chirped at the door, and Anna breathed the smallest sigh of relief as T3 slid to a stop and shot something towards her. Her hand latched onto the spare lightsaber, flicking it on and driving it straight behind her into her attacker's stomach, sweeping it out before he had a chance to react. She stumbled when she lost his support and fell to her knees, blocking the remaining assassin's pike when it came down towards her head. The distraction had been enough for Carth to roll, slamming into his attacker's legs and grabbing the pike, tearing it away and slamming the hard point up into his chest. He rolled to his feet, the assassin grabbing the staff of the pike and trying to wrest it away from him. Behind him the droid opened fire at the last standing assassin, who dodged the droid's fire as he tried to encroach on him.

But T3 had been with Zaalbar and Mission. Where—

A loud, angry roar reverberated through what felt like the whole Embassy as Zaalbar charged through the door, taking out the man encroaching on T3 in one swipe as his eyes locked on the man now threatening Anna, the Jedi weakly parrying blows from her spot on the floor. Mission stepped through the door after him, panting and out of breath but firing in a quick burst towards Carth's attacker. They didn't land, but he took the opportunity to slam his foot into his stomach, knocking the assassin back far enough to spin the pike around and jam it through his chest, throwing him to the side.

Zaalbar bowled the assassin attacking Anna over. He seized him in one gigantic paw and slammed him back into the wall, pinning him off the floor by his throat and roaring in Anna's direction. Mission hurried to Anna's side as she deactivated her lightsaber, collapsing onto her arms. "Anna, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Anna gasped. Carth dropped to his knees in front of her, T3 rolling to a stop with a chirp. "Just . . ."

He cupped her face in his hands as she pushed herself back up, sitting back on her ankles. "You rolled under the bed," he said, a small grin twitching at the corners of his mouth.

The same twitch was echoed on hers and her shoulders lurched slightly. "I-I didn't know what else to do."

He snorted, then began to laugh. Anna's expression cracked and she dissolved into laughter with him, collapsing against him and burying her head in his shoulder. Mission raised an eyebrow, looking over at Zaalbar. The Wookiee groaned and shrugged, shaking his head.

Carth suddenly stopped laughing and wrapped her tighter in his arms as the laughter turned to sobbing, Anna clutching at his shirt like it was the only thing between her and falling apart. Carth looked up as Jolee and Canderous, weapons ready, ran through the door, Juhani close on their heels. They glanced around, taking in Zaalbar holding the last remaining assassin against the wall by his throat, Anna sobbing into Carth's chest, and Mission resting a hand on her friend's arm and looking very confused.

"She all right?" Canderous asked, slapping his blaster back onto his back.

"Fine," Anna gasped against Carth's neck. He leaned back to check her over for injury, and she rubbed her face with her sleeve. "I'm fine. Just . . ." She hissed when he pressed his thumb over the cut on her neck, slowly oozing blood and turning the collar of her shift red.

"Some kolto should fix this up," he said quietly, opting to check on her rather than berate them for having been slow. Jolee threw him a bandage as he started towards them, and Carth carefully plastered it over the wound. Anna let him tilt her head, her eyes closing. Her lips trembled with obviously repressed emotion, trying to keep herself together in front of the crew. "Zaalbar, Canderous, Juhani, why don't you take them to the prison."

"With pleasure," Canderous growled, stepping forward. Zaalbar pulled the only conscious man off the wall, carrying him by the back of his armor. He struggled slightly and Canderous delivered a solid punch to his jaw that knocked him unconsious. Canderous hefted the unconscious assassin that Anna had slammed into the wall over his shoulder, following the Wookiee out. Juhani walked behind him, lightsaber ready in case either of the two awoke, and they started towards the brig.

He finished plastering the bandage over her cut, then lifted her into his arms. Anna tucked her head into his neck, closing her eyes with a sigh. "Jolee, Mission, do you remember what port is what?"

Mission glanced at the bed and then nodded. "I think so."

He settled her down, Anna's hands still clutching his shirt. "I'm fine," she protested as Mission carefully checked each machine under Jolee's supervision and connected the wires back to their ports.

Wann and a security detail sprinted through, prompting Jolee to sigh and shake his head. Late as usual. "What happened?"

"It's taken care of." There was a definite tone of disgust in Carth's voice as he scanned Anna again. She stared up at him, still shaking, and he pulled her blanket back up. "There's a pair of survivors in custody."

"I saw."

"Then maybe you should look for more assassins and make sure the Embassy is secure," Carth snapped, finally looking up at him. Wann drew himself up.

"I do  _not_  take orders from you, Commander."

"Then take it as a strong recommendation," he retorted. Jolee sighed and patted the Ambassador's arm.

"I'd recommend you just do it." Wann opened his mouth to protest. "I'd strongly recommend you do it because I'm a Jedi, and you are not."

Wann huffed and jerked his head at his guards, storming back out and barking orders. "Check the perimeter. Use stealth canceling if you can—get those bodies out of there."

"Mission, T3. Come and help me get HK back online."

Mission glanced around the room. "But what if—"

"We'll be right outside. Come on." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the bed.

Carth waited until they were done and Republic soldiers had carried the dead assassins out, then settled onto the edge of Anna's bed. She collapsed against him, burying her face in his neck. "Sorry," she whispered. "The adrenaline . . ."

"I know." He pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. "You don't have to apologize."

She sniffed. "Then we're fine? Or, at least, fine- _ish_?"

He nodded, then pressed his lips to her head. "Yeah. It, ah, will take some getting used to, but I . . . It'll be fine." He cupped the back of her head, running a thumb against her hair. "Get some sleep. I'll be here."

"Promise?"

"Promise." She nestled closer to him, letting her eyes close. Carth rubbed her arm until her breathing slowed, and she fell back to sleep.

#

"They committed suicide."

Anna looked up as Carth walked through the main hold. She was hunched at the table, still shivering but covered in her heavy over-robe and a blanket. It'd been her own insistence that they return to the  _Hawk_  for the time being, saying that she'd be more comfortable on the ship than in the Embassy. "What? Weren't you and Jolee — and didn't they pull out the hollow teeth while they were unconsci—"

"Backups." Jolee dropped down at the table next to her. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Tired." She managed a weak smile. "So did you find anything out?"

"They had your name, your description, and orders to not let you off Manaan," Carth said, pouring some water for all three of them and setting it on the table. "Not your  _real_  name." She nodded tiredly. "Is everyone on the ship? We've got the last coordi—"

"We need to head by Korriban and Tatooine first," she said. "They're on the way."

"Ko—"

"Someone found out." She pulled a datapad out of her bag and handed it to him. "It might be a trap but they may actually have something worth buying. I've heard of shields that block lightsabers — if any of us might go head-to-head with Malak I want everyone to have one." He nodded, looking at the message. "And Tatooine because Canderous has his duel thing and since honor's really important to Mandalorians I don't want to just skip over it." Carth nodded again. "As I said both planets are barely out of our way. It shouldn't be a problem."

Besides, she had a feeling that they were too late to help Bastila. She'd grown used to being able to reach along what felt like a tunnel to the other woman, lying awake some nights for the past week and trying to push strength and resilience into her from what felt like a galaxy away. But now, trying to reach through that tunnel felt more like reaching through a hole with nothing on the other side but a pervasive chill and deep darkness. She didn't know what touching the dark side through the Force felt like but if she ever had to guess, that feeling would be it. It was close to the empty darkness she thought she'd felt on Korriban, and . . .

"Korriban's closest." Carth handed her back her datapad. "I want to go with you, when you go in."

"I was going to take HK."

"I don't care. I'm going with you."

She opened her mouth to argue, then sighed. "Okay." He nodded and started towards the cockpit.

"You two are fine then?"

"Yeah." She leaned forward on the table. "Jolee —"

"What do you need?"

"Did you talk to him?"

Jolee shrugged. "What does it matter if I did?"

Anna smiled, standing and patting his shoulder. "Thanks." She started back into one of the hallways and Jolee looked over his shoulder.

"Hold on." She turned. "Found someone looking for exotic animals on our way back. I . . .  _convinced_  him to take the gizka. I figured you want them off the ship?"

She nodded, glancing down as one of the aforementioned creatures bounded past her foot. "Yes. But not X'lor." She pointed a warning finger at him.

"X'lor?" Jolee raised an eyebrow. "Did you  _adopt_  one of them?"

"Yes. He's the one with the collar. He's staying. Now I'm going to sleep a little - I take it you can handle the transfer."

Jolee nodded, turning back to the table. "Sleep in the medbay. You're not fully recovered and I don't want to risk anything flaring up." He looked over his shoulder in time to catch her making a face as she backed out of the main hold, then chuckled and downed his water.

#

Canderous and Jolee were off on Manaan for the rest of the day – something about Canderous hanging out with some old Mandalorian friends and Jolee visiting Sundry and his wife. Mission and Zaalbar were talking about heading off to look for supplies with Juhani for several hours. Anna told them to be careful. After their run in with the assassins – even though the event had given the Sith even more restrictions – she couldn't be faulted for being careful.

Carth was in the men's dormitory, probably sleeping. She couldn't blame him – according to the others he had hardly slept since her attack. She took a deep breath as she tapped lightly on the door.

"Come in," he called. She did, and he looked up from his bunk.

"How're you doing?"

Carth sat up on his bunk, patting the spot next to him. She settled down. "Fine. Dustil contacted me. I was just reading his message."

"How is he?"

"He's doing well. He's spying now, for the Republic." Carth shook his head. "There's a lot of unrest in the academy apparently."

"He's a lot like his father."

"Yeah." Carth half-laughed. "Yeah, he is." She started to stand, but he pulled her back down. "Hey. Stay a while."

"Sure." She grinned at him.

"What about you?" His hand pushed an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," she reassured him. "A lot better."

"Good. You look better."

"So. Got any big plans for today?"

"Watching you?" He grinned, and she echoed it. "We've had enough excitement recently. Besides . . ." he sighed and looked away. "We both know everything is about to fall apart."

"Yeah," she breathed, looking away herself. "We're nearly there."

"Anna . . ." He pulled his head back, then drew her to him and sought out her lips with his own. She sighed into him, her arms folding around him as his hands traced her back, warm even through her robe and undershirt. She shifted, straddling his hips as she cupped his face with her hands, parting her lips to let his tongue slip through, sweeping through her mouth and meeting her own gently. Carth pulled her closer, hand gripping the back of her head to hold her to him. Whatever reason she'd come in quickly disappeared in a whirlwind of shedding clothes and touches and a rash of passion that probably would have garnered more than one displeased look from several Jedi masters.

When they finally collapsed back against the bed in a tangle of limbs and panting breaths Anna buried her head against Carth's chest and he nestled her under his chin, closing his eyes. They lay like that for a while before Carth cleared his throat.

"Did you say you lo—"

"Nope," Anna replied, nestling closer. Carth grinned slightly and held her closer, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"Jolee thinks you have a death wish," he murmured. "I'm pretty sure he's convinced that you're going to let Malak kill you."

"Jolee thinks he knows everything," she replied, shifting her legs so he wasn't laying on top of her so much.

"Just promise me you won't?"

"I'll do my best. I can guarantee I don't intend to  _let_  that di'kut kill me, after all."

Carth chuckled, the vibration running through her forehead. "Anna—"

"Sh," she murmured, pressing herself even further into him. "I just want to lay here for a while. With you."

He rested his face in her hair, the scent of her soap overwhelming him. Revan had probably never had moments like this, her and someone she sometimes admitted to loving doing nothing but lying in silence, and even if Anna didn't remember it . . . the thought tugged at something somewhere in his chest, and he pulled her even closer to him almost unconsciously.

He may not want to admit it yet, but he was sure he completely and unabashedly was in love with her.


	48. Chapter 48

Carth was worried about walking out on Korriban after hearing rumors of instability in the Academy, though it was a mixed worry. Part of him was concerned for Anna, that someone had learned the cause of the instability and had it in for her; the other part was worry for Dustil, since from what he could find through official channels there was still information coming in from Korriban's academy (which was how they knew of the unrest anyway). And for all he knew, someone might remember their violent capture in the spaceport.

But no one seemed to even really give her half a glance as they walked by, HK looming over her shoulder and Carth strolling at her side. The cantina was emptier than they'd remembered, probably due to the high body count in the Academy. The Rodian bartender was busy cleaning the bar, barely looking up as they stopped. " _Be with you one minute_ ," he said.

"I think you'll want to be with us  _now_." She handed him the datapad. He took it, bug-eyes widening before he dropped into a low bow. "Oh, stand  _up_ ," she said. "I heard you had items that I may be interested in."

Carth scanned the cantina again. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them. The Rodian glanced around and then beckoned them back into a storeroom in the rear of the cantina, opening a series of steel chests. " _This is stock. All special traded, all on exchange. Experimental technology, rares . . ._ " He tossed several items to her as he spoke. " _Amazing lightsaber crystals, all things that would be of interested to the esteemed dark lady you are_."

"I'm not a Sith," she said lightly. "I heard you may have shields that block lightsabers?"

" _Yes. Verpine prototypes. Very good. Untested but supposed to stop lightsaber damage._ "

"How do you know that if they're untested?" Anna asked, turning the small wristlet shield over in her hands.

" _Exchange . . .apparently had run-ins with Jedi and Sith. These been used. Worked in field but do not know if a usual effect or just a product of that shield._ "

"Right." She frowned, and glanced over at Carth. "How much for each shield?"

" _Four thousand. No less._ "

"That's outrageous!" Carth protested. Anna side-eyed him, and he closed his mouth.

"I don't know," she said, pursing her lips. "That's a high price for something that's untested. Three thousand."

" _Three thousand eight_."

"Three thousand one."

" _Three thousand five._ "

"Three thousand three."

" _Three thousand three sixty_."

"Deal." She nodded. "I'll take six."

Carth cleared his throat. "Can I . . ." He gently tugged her back. "Exactly how  _many_  credits have you been hiding from the rest of us?"

"Quite a bit," she replied. "I'm sold excess gear and been penny-pinching for nearly five months, just in case."

" _How much_?"

She glanced to the Rodian, who was trying to listen intently, and frowned back at him as she lowered her voice. "All of them," she murmured. He glared at her. " _Enough_."

"You don't even know, do you?"

She glared back at him for a couple of seconds, and then cleared her throat. "How much money am I getting ready to spend?"

He shook his head. "Twenty thousand, one sixty."

"Eh. Not so bad if these things actually work."

" _If_ ," he said.

"Shut up." She turned back to the Rodian. "What else?"

" _Take look. See if anything you like._ "

She nodded, rummaging through the trunks. "Thermal detonators?" She asked, carefully holding up one of the devices.

" _Four thousand, again._ "

"Twenty-five hundred."

" _Thirty-five hundred._ "

"Three thousand."

" _Deal. How many?_ "

Anna pursed her lips. "How many do you have?"

" _Four._ "

"All of them." Carth rolled his eyes as she moved to the next crate, and he bent down and rummaged through another. His hands settled on a purple mesh vest that he pulled out, holding it up. It was light and flexible in his hands, but when he tugged it it held strong. "What's this?"

" _Verpine mesh. Very strong. Very light._ " He drew a knife from his belt and scraped it down the mesh to prove his point, a shower of sparks hissing off the fabric. Anna looked up, clearly interested. " _Laces in front for proper fit. Protects well, yes?_ "

Carth rubbed the fabric between his thumb and forefinger. "How much?"

"Carth, you've got perfectly good—"

"Hush, you."

" _Ten thousand._ "

Carth glanced at Anna. She looked confused, but made a motion with her hand. "Five."

" _Eight_."

"Five and a half?"

" _Six and a half._ "

Another look.

"Sixty three."

" _Sixty three seventy five._ "

Anna nodded. "Deal," Carth replied.

They bought a few more various items, including a new gun for HK. As Anna started to hand over the credits Carth interrupted her, handing her the credits for the vest.

"Carth—"

"Don't argue with me."

She frowned, but put her credits for the vest back into her pocket and put his own with hers. The Rodian gleefully counted the money to ensure it was all there, and then tucked it away. " _Pleasure doing business dark lady. If needed anything to stop former apprentice, come back to me. Would hate to see you damaged._ "

The side of her mouth quirked down, but she nodded. "I will," she replied with a terse smile. "Thank you."

" _Any time, dark lady_." She turned on her heel and strode out of the cantina, handing HK the new gun as they passed. The droid made a disturbingly happy noise and holstered his old weapon, cradling the new gun in his arms. Carth handed her the vest, and she frowned at him.

"I got it for you," he said.

"Carth, you-you know I don't wear armor." She looked at it, turning it over in her hands.

"I know," he said. "But if we're going up against Sith and droids and Malak and who knows what else on the Star Forge, I want you to have something more than the Force and a few layers of fabric to protect you."

Anna stopped inside the spaceport, turning to him. "Carth, I—"

He rubbed her shoulders, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. "I said I was going to protect you," he murmured. "It's light enough it won't hinder you and I'm sure it wouldn't stop a lightsaber, but it'll make me feel better."

She smiled up at him, shaking her head. "Carth Onasi," she said, squeezing his hand. He locked their fingers together. "I hate you sometimes."

"I know." He grinned. "Come on. Let's get moving."

#

"Anyone have any business on Tatooine, apart from Canderous?"

"Uh," Mission shrugged. "I'd like to go yell at Griff again, if we have time."

"Fair." Anna nodded. "Juhani —"

"I'll go."

" _I will as well_." Anna nodded at Zaalbar, figuring that if anything was going to try and attack them they'd think twice with the Wookiee.

Anna glanced over at Carth. He shook his head. "I'm going to keep T3 here. I want to go over the ship again, since . . ."

"I'll give you a hand," Jolee said. Carth glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "What? Sometimes you need an extra non-droid hand."

She nodded. "Close the ramp after we leave. Canderous, you and I will take HK and go see your friend."

"Not my friend." Canderous looked more tense than they'd even seen him, obsessively checking his blaster for damage with his mouth drawn in a thin line.

"Either way, we'll go deal with that. We'll leave first, just in case. Hopefully any attention will get drawn to us." She stood, starting out. "Come on."

Canderous followed her stiffly, slinging his blaster onto his back. They heard her yell for HK from the garage, and then the sound of the ramp lowering.

"Let's get to work then," Carth said, heading towards the engine room. "C'mon."

T3 rolled after him, and Jolee stood and followed. "Are you ready?" Juhani asked. Mission shrugged.

"I don't know. I still think he's scum but . . ." She sighed. "Yeah. Let's go."

They waved to Carth on their way by, and he waved them off from where he was hunched over the hyperdrive.

Zaalbar closed the ramp behind them, Juhani quickly checking for anything in the bay. Fortunately someone attacking them in the docking bay would have been too  _easy_ , since the walls were lined with auto-targeting turrets. She looked over her shoulder and nodded, and they began to leave the hangar.

All of them were jumpy. After what they'd seen on Manaan, the Sith — Malak, more specifically — still had a vested interest in protecting the secret location of the Star Forge. While any assassins or run-of-the-mill Sith would be looking for Anna, it was likely that they'd be on their guard for any member of her crew as well.

She wondered if the Commander had earned any extra points for his capture or death (it wasn't her fault she was thinking about this. Just the night before she'd walked in on Carth, Canderous and Anna discussing how much everyone was worth to the Sith at this point).

They left the hangar and headed into Anchorhead proper, weaving through the even  _smaller_ crowd. The settlement did look to be in danger of failing — the number of people in the hangar bay corridors had been twice this size when they'd last landed on the planet nearly three months ago.

She felt like they were being watched, the small hairs on the back of her neck standing high on end. But this was Anchorhead. It could be anyone, any _thing_ , even friends of Canderous' challenger aiming to make sure no one else interfered.

That was before she saw  _his_  head somewhere in the crowd, or at least swore she did. Canderous had told her that he'd not waited around to ensure Xor had turned into sharkbait — and he'd warned her to keep up her guard. She was just being jumpy. That had to be it. It was a play of the shadows her upturned hood caused on her eyes, making her see things.

Besides, she suspected not even Xor would be stupid enough to find her when she was walking beside a one-twenty-five kilogram Wookiee carrying two extra-long vibroswords and a bowcaster. Though he  _had_  been bold enough threaten her on Manaan when she had two other Jedi and the rest of her companions with her.

She decided she could not trust the man's intelligence to ensure her safety and quietly rested her hand on her lightsaber, pointedly moving her robe away from the weapon. Most Jedi learned that action quickly, since seeing that the threat of a lightsaber was sometimes enough to discourage a would-be attacker. She doubted it would work on Xor, but she did not intend to give him the chance to make the first move.

"Juhani?" She glanced over, seeing Mission's hands fall readily to her blasters. Zaalbar mumbled a concern, a click indicating that he now walked with his bowcaster held loosely in one large paw.

"I believed I saw  _him_ ," she said quietly, and Mission nodded.

"Thought he was over the side of Ahto City."

"So did I. But Canderous said he didn't ensure it."

"Where?"

Juhani shook her head, but as they rounded a corner they heard a loud shout.

"There she is. Get her alive!"

She moved before the other two could react, slamming the hilt of her lightsaber into one of the approaching guns-for-hire and igniting it as it impacted, whipping it out to turn to the next one. A green shot took him out as Mission and Zaalbar opened fire. Xor hadn't brought many men, perhaps only five, not nearly what she'd expected. Arrogant, and evidence that he underestimated their entire crew.

Juhani reached out her hand and threw one of the men into a wall, sending him limp to the floor. Another reach pulled Xor, hanging at the back and already wounded in the arm by Zaalbar, to her and she slammed him back into the wall behind her with as much force as she could.

When his head cleared he found a double-bladed lightsaber to his throat and the ends of a blaster and a bowcaster close to his face.

"Hah," he said, his voice heavy and hoarse with pain and the sound of punctured lungs. "You seem to have defeated me,  _worm_. But I will have the last laugh!"

"What do you mean?" Juhani growled, barely feeling when Mission nervously reached out to rest her hand on her forearm.

"You may kill me here but I had the pleasure of destroying your species! Not all of us fought for honor! Some did it for pleasure, the  _pleasure of watching your world burn_."

Juhani's arm shook, but she took a long, slow blink. Mission's hand applied more pressure, stilling the shaking in her arm, and Juhani drew a deep breath.

"I'm beyond your petty vengeance now, girl. You can never have your revenge!"

"I will not give you the satisfaction," she said, though her voice shook. "Of seeing me fall."

"Won't you? I killed your people like the animals they were, just to see them burn — hunted them down like the animals you  _are_. But the treacherous beasts fought back and left me with injuries that meant I could never fight again —  _or so you thought_!"

"I'd say you didn't put up that much of a fight," Mission interjected coldly. "Stop trying to provoke her, you slime."

"I found your kind in the lower city as well! The male was easy enough, but the females were elusive. And then  _you_  were taken from me by the Jedi!"

Juhani leaned down, her lightsaber humming inches closer to his throat. "You killed my father," she murmured, her voice almost disturbingly calm. Mission swallowed nervously. "You killed my people, and you treat us like animals. But I do not need revenge." She lowered her voice further. "You will die, but you will not die because of me."

With that, she deactivated her lightsaber, turned on her heel, and started towards the Czerka office through the small gaping crowd that had gathered. Mission and Zaalbar looked after her, then back at one another as Xor's final breath rattled out of his lungs.

" _What would we have done if —_ "

"Search me, Big Z." Mission slipped her blaster back into her holster. "I was about to call Jolee. Glad I didn't have to. C'mon."

Zaalbar took a sole disgusted look back at Xor's corpse, shook his head, and took two strides to catch up to his friend.

Xor was fortunate he hadn't been chasing Zaalbar, or else he would have been missing several limbs.

#

"These are the coordinates," Canderous said gruffly, looking around at the sea of sand surrounding them. "I don't see him though."

"Probably camouflaged, or hiding." Anna raised a hand to shield her eyes under her hood. "HK, do a scan?"

The droid was quiet for a moment. "Affirmation: there are several meatbags on the other side of that dune. I have little doubt they are who we are looking for, master. They do not match readouts for local lifeforms and appear to be Mandalorian."

She'd noticed that the droid had been far more positive towards her since the revelation about her identity. "How many, precisely?"

"Analysis: It is hard to say, master. The heat plays with my scanning equipment. Placation: I am sure it is no more than we can handle, master. I am quite capable after all."

Canderous obsessively brushed a grain of sand off his blaster.

"Mandalorian rules of honor? How is this going down?"

"Hopefully it'll be left up to me and Jagi," he replied. "I'd hate to leave you and HK with all the rest."

She frowned, glancing over at him. "I did survive a war with your people, you know."

He chuckled as he checked his energy cell. "Did more than survive. You beat the shit out of us." He glanced up. "Here they come."

She looked back at the dune HK had indicated, spotting several — probably seven — humanoid figures walking towards them. Anna glanced back over. "So how will this work?"

"The spares should be there to keep us from running," Canderous said. "But I doubt rules of honor will play into this very well. This is for revenge. Not honor." Canderous looked over at her. "Probably got time to call Jolee if you're scared."

She chuckled. "Not on your life."

In the middle was the man she recognized as Jagi, flanked by several men she could identify as Mandalorians but did not recognize. Anna shrugged, letting her outer-robe fall to the ground around her feet as they drew to a stop, the bright sunlight blinding her for a few moments.

"So you managed to come after all." Jagi's eyes traced over to Anna, clearly drawn to the lightsabers on her belt. Thank the Force her Mandalorian wasn't rusty, or else she would be having problems. "And I see you brought friends."

"So did you," Canderous retorted.

"I thought that you might need help, so I arranged a distraction."

"That's a hell of a distraction," Anna said. If Jagi was shocked by her use of Mando'a, he didn't look it.

"I thought he'd need more help," he retorted coldly.

"Besides, he tried to talk me out of coming. I'm very stubborn."

"I do not need to hear your excuses,  _Jedi_! I know why he brought you!"

"Enough of this talk!" Canderous hefted his blaster rifle, leveling the barrel. "Let's do what we came here to do."

"Uh, before we do," Anna interjected, holding out her hand. "Perhaps you both should calm down?"

She could nearly see Canderous rolling his eyes from beside her. "We are  _not_  talking this out, remember?" he hissed.

"We both know what's at stake here," Jagi snapped. "We both know what we must do. It's only in death that this can end."

"This is a matter of honor. You know that."

Anna frowned. "Jagi, what did he do?" She knew the general rules of Mandalorian honor combats — Canderous had been slandered, and the only answer for him was to respond in the challenged duel. Jagi, on the other hand, had initiated it. For him to seek Canderous out when he'd spotted him on Korriban meant that whatever Canderous had done had not been a minor infraction.

"He abandoned us in battle, the men he was sworn to lead, in the pursuit of glory," Jagi snapped. Canderous shook his head.

"If I'd not attacked then the battle may have been lost. If we had won it would  _not_  have been such an easy victory!"

"It would still have been won! You left your own men to die there, Canderous. I cannot forgive you for what you did to us!"

"So he seized a strategic moment?" Anna said, glancing between the two. "Hell, in the Republic that would net you an award." She didn't need to throw in the obligatory "perhaps that's why we won" as one side of Canderous' mouth jerked up, knowing she spoke with more weight than Jagi knew, and Jagi scowled at her.

"That isn't exactly how it happened," Canderous said, as much to her as Jagi.

"What did then?"

"The Althiri were fighting hard. I saw a break in their defenses that left their center exposed and I had to take the chance. If I hadn't, the battle would have cost more in warriors and time. I stand by it."

She nodded. "It's what I would have done." Even without her distinct memories as Revan, it was what she would have done. Jagi's scowl deepened.

"You were nothing more than a glory hunter! You were given direct orders, a part of a plan to carry out. You had a direct responsibility and you betrayed that!"

"See, trying to talk this out . . ."

Anna pursed her lips. She folded her hands behind her back, ready to cue HK to fire. "You must see that it was a sound strategic move, Jagi. He saved other lives in exchange for yours. A shame, but it happens."

Jagi scoffed quietly. "Of course it would —  _to a Jedi_. But we are not your kind! There are rules to our warfare, rules he  _broke_!"

"Mandalore taught us that opportunism and flexibility in battle were to be admired," Canderous snapped, clearly losing patience. "You may contradict me but will you dare to contradict him?"

Jagi seemed to falter for a second, but then his jaw drew in a thin line. "No more," he said.

"He's fairly determined to have your head on a pike," Anna murmured. Canderous nodded. "You good?"

"Been good."

"I'm done talking. Men—"

Jagi's orders were cut off when Anna dropped her hand behind her back, and the man next to Jagi was cut down by a single shot to the head. They responded quickly, Anna blocking the first series of shots and rolling to avoid the others, throwing a lightsaber into two of the men closest to her. Canderous dropped to the ground, propping his gun up on a pile of sand he'd been nudging together with his foot and opening fire. HK was still on his feet, an energy shield flickering around him as he marked each of his shots carefully. Anna flicked her own shield on, deflecting a blast as it nearly struck her and then flicking her lightsaber towards the shooter. She wasn't trying to get close. After all, Canderous was mostly trying to concentrate his power at Jagi's position — she was merely supposed to take care of the rest.

"He's bunkered down pretty deep," Canderous yelled over to her as she caught her 'saber, ducked a blast, and rolled more towards him. Only about two of the men were still standing, HK doing most of the cleanup. "Could use a hand."

"Once HK has those two down I'll see what I can do," she yelled back, watching as HK dropped one of the last men. Anna hefted and threw her lightsaber again, slicing deep through the last mercenary's torso. "You ready?"

Canderous stopped firing, preparing himself for a rapid burst as his teeth grit. "Yeah."

Anna reached out until she could sense Jagi, several meters away and still firing. Wrapping the Force around him, she lifted. He was light — after some of the things she'd had to lift it was as if she were lifting a feather — until she dropped him outside of his cover. She winced when Canderous opened fire before Jagi had hit the ground.

Ignoring Canderous as he picked himself up off the ground and dusted off his armor, Anna moved back to her robe and shook the sand out before pulling it on. Tugging her tawny hood low over her face to shield her eyes, she checked over HK for any damage and rubbed a blaster smear off his chassis. "Glad I upgraded this," she murmured. "You ready, Candy?"

"Yeah." Canderous had his blaster back on his back as he trudged back over to her. She studied him — if anything, he looked older. As they started back towards Anchorhead, he cleared his throat. "Thanks."

"We should have tried talking."

"We did."

Anna shook her head. "We could have tried more." Somewhere she still thought that they might have maybe been able to resolve Jagi's differences peacefully, but —

"No. Not with other Mandalorians watching. If it had just been us, he may have caved." He cleared his throat again. "I'd prefer we don't discuss it."

"Fair," Anna replied. "While we're not discussing it, I need to ask you a favor."

"Yeah."

"I need you to spar with me."

Canderous stopped, looking over at her. "You've got two Jedi floating around. I thought you and Juhani—"

"Canderous, I need  _you_ for this." She glanced back towards Anchorhead. "Look. With the way things are going, I'm going to need to face Malak again."

From the way he pursed his lips she suspected he knew something she didn't. "One of those Force feelings your kind gets?"

"Something like that."

"Don't tell me you're scared."

"Not at all!" She protested, though that was the smallest bit of a lie. Sure, she'd been Revan but in her current state that meant very little. "But part of my problem was that he's exponentially stronger than me. Physically. I need someone his approximate size and strength. You're quite shorter than he is —"

"Not by much!" Canderous protested.

"— but I'd reasonably believe that you're as strong as he is when he's not using the Force."

"So you need pointers."

"I need something I can adapt to another fight with him. He knows everything about me and the way I behave in a duel. I know nothing about him anymore. I did once, but I can't guarantee that'll come back at a useful moment. And after the  _Leviathan_  I think I know how he fights — I just need someone who can replicate it."

"Why not Republic?"

Anna had considered asking Carth but Canderous was stronger, and any attempt to try hand-to-hand with Carth would likely lead to other distractions that would not help her when she finally came face-to-face with Malak. "No."

Canderous nodded. "Sure. We've got about three days to the Star Forge after this. 'Sides, I don't want to stick around just to see Revan get offed by her upstart apprentice."

Anna snickered and started towards Anchorhead again, HK jolting back to a start behind her. "It's more likely we'll off one another at this rate."

Since he was behind her, Anna didn't see the small veil of concern that furrowed his brow as he thought back to their Manaan conference about that very thing. He still wasn't convinced she didn't have a death wish now that she and the pilot were getting on again, because things like that . . .

"Yeah," he agreed, letting his face fall back. When the hell had he gotten all concerned? Scowling slightly at himself, he took a few long steps to catch up to her. "So, after dinner?"

"I don't see why not."

#

Everyone was back on the  _Hawk_  by the time Anna and Canderous returned, covered in sweat and sand. Anna left a partial trail of clothing to the 'fresher that was stubbornly picked up by T3 as he rolled by. Once she was done she padded back into the main hold, barefoot with her hair loose down her back. "So," she started, getting some water from the dispenser. "How's Griff?"

"Gone," Mission said, tracing a circle on the table. "Exchange is after him. He scampered."

"Mm. Not surprised." She leaned back against the counter, her eyes meeting Carth's for the briefest second before glancing away.

"We ran into Xor again," Juhani admitted. Anna raised an eyebrow.

"I assume that went 'well'?" she asked, using a hand to put quotes around the 'well.'

"He is dead," Juhani said calmly. "He attempted to goad me and I did not rise."

Anna glanced at Mission and Zaalbar, both of whom nodded. "She did good," Mission said. "'Specially for what he was saying to her. I'd've fed him to a rancor."

" _I will not describe what I would have done_."

She raised an eyebrow at the Wookiee's reply. "Good then. Carth, Jolee, T3, how's the ship?"

"Fine," Carth answered. "We're set to go."

"Excellent." Canderous tromped back in, dropping down at the table. He still looked exhausted. "Look." Anna took a deep breath and straightened up. "This is it. Our next stop is the Star Forge and we know we might not all be walking away. So if any of you want to leave, this is your port."

There was an extended period of silence, until Carth finally cleared his throat and strengthened off the bulkhead he was leaning on. "I'll go ahead and get us into the air."

"I will contact the Jedi and inform them that we are leaving for the Forge." Anna nodded as Juhani stood. They had been lax with updating the Jedi after Bastila's capture, primarily because they'd been awfully busy and not nearly as (rightfully) concerned as she had been.

"C'mon, you can help me put together some emergency supplies." Jolee patted Mission's shoulder as he walked by, and she stood and followed him towards the medbay. Zaalbar lumbered towards the garage.

"Well," Canderous said, pushing to his feet. "I'm going to bang around on that damn bike. Shout if you need me."

Anna waited until the main hold had cleared, and shook her head before heading for the cockpit. She scooped X'lor up on the way by, the gizka cooing and bumping his head against her hand as she scratched behind his nubbly little ears. "Who's a good gizka?" she murmured as she headed down the hallway to the cockpit. He cooed back at her, nibbling on her finger. "That's right, _you_ are. You—ow!"

Carth chuckled from the pilot's seat, hand on the controls. "And you swear up and down that he likes you."

"He does," she protested, sinking down in the copilot's seat and moving to help with the flight controls. X'lor curled up on her lap, croaking. Carth glanced over and shook his head.

"Never thought I'd see the day. A former Sith Lord with a pet gizka."

"For someone who was awfully bothered by that, you're joking about it fairly quickly."

A corner of his mouth twitched. "What can I say? It's a defense mechanism."

She grinned over at him. "Any other defense mechanisms you want to enlighten me about?"

He laughed. "You should know better than to sweet-talk me when I'm flying, gorgeous."

Anna dropped X'lor onto her chair and stood, resting her head on top of Carth's as she let her hands trail down his arms. Carth glanced up at her. "I'm plotting the hyperspace coordinates. Can I focus for two seconds?"

She chuckled. "I'll let you focus long enough to get us into hyperspace." Anna stepped back, resting her hands on his shoulders. Carth plotted the jump, and then leaned back. Anna bent down again, kissing the top of his head before resting her own on his. "Can I distract you now?"

He pulled her hands over his chest, covering them with his own. "I suppose so. Though . . . how are you going to distract me, hm?"

She grinned, moving her head to his shoulder. "Oh, I think I can come up with one or two things that might distract you.  _If_ you're up for them, that is."

"You're a very bad Jedi," Carth murmured.

"Am I . . . interrupting something?"

Anna took a step back, spinning back for the door. Jolee stood there, arms crossed and half a smile on his face. "No," she said, scooping X'lor off her abandoned chair. "Why would you think that?" Carth spun his chair back, glaring at Jolee.

Jolee chuckled. "Ah, never mind. You wanted to talk to me after we were in hyperspace?"

"Yeah." She nodded to Carth. "I'll see you later, Commander?"

"I'd better," he replied. She looked back over her shoulder as she followed Jolee out and winked. Carth grinned, crossing his arms and propping his feet up on the console as he watched hyperspace whisk by.

 


	49. Chapter 49

"Is that it?"

They had gathered in the cockpit as soon as Carth had announced their drop out of lightspeed, waiting for the first glimpse of anything in the sky outside the bridge viewports. They hovered in the air, staring at the white, diamond-shaped factory hung over the system's only star. A bright beam of energy from the star seemed to keep it suspended, likely powering it. Anna nodded. Seeing it didn't make her remember anything in particular, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that was the Star Forge, that Malak was there, and that this was the end.

"It looks like the Sith symbol," Mission observed.

"How much of the Sith fleet is here?" Anna asked quietly, almost as if she were afraid that their voices would carry through the vacuum.

"Looks like most of it," Carth replied, just as quietly. Anna shook her head.

"The Republic's not going to be able to stand up against those odds."

"We've already sent the message. They're massing, and then en route. We just get to sit and wait."

"And hopefully not be spotted by a fighter," Canderous said. His voice was loud in the otherwise silent room. X'lor cooed nervously and shifted on Anna's lap.

"So what now?" Mission asked.

"We wait," Jolee replied. He seemed surprisingly calm, though his shoulders were set in a stiff line as his eyes tried to count out the number of Sith warships ahead of them. "We—"

"Enemy fighters!" Carth snapped, springing to life. "Looks like we've been spotted!"

Canderous stomped out of the cockpit towards the guns. "Strap in," Anna said, pulling the copilot's harness over her shoulders. They ran back into the main hold.

"Hopefully no one will get a message off, or anything," Carth said, spinning the ship to dodge a blast.

"Malak already knows we're here," Anna replied, reaching for the controls as the ship lurched to the side.

"What did you touch?"

"I didn't touch a damn thing!" she snapped, as the ship lurched again. "What did you touch?"

"Wait—" He glanced at a screen as an alarm blared. "The planet's got a disruptor shield, instruments are jammed and - Anna, I need you to compensate with that stabilizer lever!"

She reached for it as the ship lurched again, pulling it flat. "We're still going!"

"I noticed! I can't compensate — whatever made that field's too strong, we've got a massive cascade failure." He pulled on the controls, trying to keep the ship level. "Open the comm, tell everyone to brace for impact."

Anna glanced over at him, surprised at how calm he was being with the ship about to crash, and reached for the switch. "All right everyone, we're caught in a disrupter field. Brace for impact and try not to scream too much if you wouldn't mind."

Carth bit his lip as he wrestled with the increasingly insane controls, the ship's systems systematically shutting down. The blue sky of the unknown planet loomed around them as they plummeted through the sky. They hit something, and Mission shrieked from the main hold accompanied by a loud trill from T3. Carth managed to straighten out.

"The red lever to your left. Emergency strut deployment."

Anna reached and grabbed it, pulling it down. Something clanged on the bottom of the ship as the struts shot down, just in time for the ship to bounce once then twice on the vast ocean underneath them then skid flat onto the yellowed beach. It banked, then skid, then jerked to a stop and settled.

They sat in the now-dark cockpit as the ship powered down, both Anna and Carth breathing heavily. "You all right?" he asked, reaching across the console. She nodded, brushing his hand with hers.

"You?"

"Fine. Just . . ." He winced as he took his harness off. "We need to check the damage."

She nodded, standing. "X'lor, stay." The gizka cooed unhappily, but settled on her chair as she and Carth ran through the cockpit.

"Everyone all right?" she asked. They were unstrapping, and Jolee waved her off.

"Go on. I'll make sure everyone's all right."

Anna nodded and followed Carth, grabbing her outer robe from the swoop bike where she'd left it. Just because it had a beach didn't mean it'd be warm.

She sprinted down the ramp and found Carth staring up at the base of the ship, chewing on his lip. "Stop that," she chided. "What's wrong?"

"The stabilizers're shot. The disruptor fields must have fried them. I don't even want to know what the hyperdrive looks like."

"Can we replace them? Or synthesize them? A temporary fix until after this is all over?"

"No. We'll need to find replacements."

Anna pursed her lips. "Let me just make one out of thin air, Onasi. I'm sure the Force will just let me pull one out of my ass—"

"I don't need your sass, Revan. There's enough wrecked ships on this world—"

"If you hadn't tried to go after those fighters, we wouldn't have had this problem!"

"I didn't try to go after those fighters! I was trying to  _avoid_ them, thank you very much."

"Oh that's not what it looked like from the copilot's seat!"

"It isn't like you were helping!"

"I was doing my best!"

"Yeah and your best wasn't helping, was —"

"Will you two stop?!" Canderous barked, and they turned to glance back at the crew, calmly watching the now-usual display from the ramp.

"How bad is it?" Jolee asked. Anna cleared her throat and glared at Carth.

"Stabilizers look shot," he explained. "Without them I can't control the ship in flight, and it means the hyperdrive is probably shot. There should be enough crashed ships here that we can find a temporary replacement."

"How long before the Republic arrives?"

"Dodonna said they were taking two days to gather the fleet and such," Anna replied. Juhani nodded. "So we have two days to —" She glanced past them, and almost immediately her lightsaber was in hand. Tall humanoids with elongated heads and bobbing, protruding stalk eyes were charging onto the beach, waving long staffs decorated with plants and feathers and screaming a guttural cry.

"Looks like some unhappy natives," Canderous said.

"Looks like," Jolee agreed, igniting his lightsaber. One of the incoming attackers fell, felled by a single shot from HK's rifle. Juhani leapt the distance between herself and the incoming aliens, pirouetting to take out two. Anna met one with a single lightsaber, then sliced through his staff and into his shoulder. Several more were tossed off their feet as Jolee pushed out through the Force, engaging another pole-wielding alien with his other hand.

Carth fired as one came up behind Anna, nearly clubbing her, shooting through one eye and the center of its head. It fell backwards, and Anna flashed him a small smile before engaging the next, moving his arms enough that Canderous had a clear shot at his chest. He took it, ripping through the alien with ease.

When the last fell to a well-placed shot from Zaalbar's bowcaster, Anna knelt down and gently touched one of the bodies. They seemed familiar, almost as if . . .

"We crashed here," she murmured, a frown furrowing her brow before she raised her voice. "Malak and I crashed here. We must have. There is a way off this planet then — we just need to find it."

"How are we going to do that?" Jolee asked. "I'm suspecting you've got one of those crazy schemes up your sleeves?"

"As always," she replied. "Carth, keep Mission, T3 and Zaalbar here to work on the ship. Everyone else, we'll go see if we can't track down the leader of these aliens and see if they know how to get off-world. I suspect the answer lies with them. And we'll need to figure something out about this damn stabilizer thing."

Juhani nodded inland. "During our . . . rather rapid descent-"

"We're lucky we made it in one piece," Carth muttered hotly.

"-I noticed numerous crashed ships. Perhaps the parts are in the wreckage."

"Cathar's right," Canderous agreed. "Place is a graveyard. But finding the parts is just something to do unless we can get that disruptor down."

"We'd just crash again." Carth leaned heavily on the table.

"And the Republic fleet will be on its way here  _very_  shortly," Anna said quietly. "If that field is still up when they arrive we'll lose the war. We need that disruptor field down." She paused as a curious thought occurred to her. "The Sith ships weren't having any problems. They must have some type of protection."

"Too bad we don't have time install it in our ships," Carth retorted. "But the disruptor could be coming from anywhere."

T3 chirped, rocking back and forth on his struts. Mission and Anna glanced at him, then each other. "He says there's an energy reading from a stone structure to the east. A big one." He chirped again, ending with a long whir. "Some kind of ancient temple?"

Anna blinked, pressing a hand to her temple. "I . . . I think that's where we need to go," she said, reaching out to stabilize herself on Carth's shirt.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Fine." She straightened. "If that's where the power fluctuations are coming from then that's where we need to go."

"And we still have to help Bastila," Mission added. Anna ducked her head, her eyes closing.

"Bastila has been Malak's prisoner for a long time," Juhani reminded her. "If he has been successful then the Sith will be invincible."

"I'm afraid we may be too late, and anyway, she's probably on the Star Forge," Anna said, brushing sand off her pants. There _might_  still be hope that Bastila hadn't fallen, but Anna suspected that getting to her  _before_  Malak broke her was no longer an option. "We need to focus on getting this ship off-world in time to rendezvous with the Republic fleet and getting that disruptor field down before they get here and get slaughtered. Carth, do what you can. We'll look for parts while we're out, all right? Mission, Zaalbar, T3, stay here. Everyone else, with me."

"What do you mean, we might be too late?" Carth asked. She glanced at him, his eyebrows furrowed. Everyone was regarding her with suspicion, and she looked away. Anna had hoped her statement might pass their notice.

"It's irrelevant," she murmured. "We need to focus. Come on." With that, Anna started away to the pass the aliens had emerged from. Carth sighed and looked at Mission.

"I'll need you and T3 to look around here and check the extent of the damage. Z, stay with them and keep an eye out for more of those things. I'll be looking at the hyperdrive. If you see  _anything_ —" he pointed at Zaalbar. "—you let me know, all right?"

Zaalbar growled. "He says all right," Mission translated.

"Right." Carth nodded and headed back into the ship, scooping up X'lor from the top of the ramp. "No you don't, little guy. I'm going to put you back in the dorms before Anna has a heart attack because you're gone."

He cooed up at Carth and butted his head against his arm. Carth chuckled and scratched at his nubbly ears.

#

"Think the gizka are native to this world?" Juhani asked as they walked through a winding series of canyons, weapons in hand.

"Doubtful," Jolee said as they began to head downhill, towards what looked like another beach. They'd come across several crashed shuttles, but no ships that would possess compatible stabilizers. "Not with the disruptor field. It'd be impossible for a ship to land and then take off."

"Statement." They fell silent when HK spoke from his position slightly ahead of the group, metal head swiveling back towards Anna. "There are several organic meatbags of the irritated local variety ahead, master. Recommendation: We should be ready for a confrontation."

"We'll wait to see if they want to talk," Anna said quietly as they rounded a corner and stumbled to a stop.

Ahead of them was arrayed a large collection of the local lifeforms, accompanied by several young rancor. "Oh," Juhani said quietly. Canderous clicked something on his gun.

At the sound they dropped into an obviously trained stance, alien to anything they'd seen before with their staffs outheld towards them. HK trained his gun on one alien, and Anna quickly pushed it down. "Hold on." No one was attacking. A single alien stepped forward, hands outheld.

" _Hold, interloper._ "

"This is going no where," Canderous said gruffly, hand tense on his gun. "It's not like we can understand them."

" _We are not here for blood. We bring you an invitation from the One, Great Champion of the Rakata._ "

"I can understand them," she said quietly.

"What?" Juhani glanced over at her.

"I can understand them. What they're saying." She straightened. "And what is this invitation from the One, Great Champion of the Rakata?"

"Must have learned the language before the Jedi messed up your head," Canderous said, his guard barely lowering.

" _You have used magics and weapons unknown to slaughter our raiders. You have bathed in the blood of fierce Rakatan warriors_."

"Pleasant," Anna murmured. No one bothered to ask her for a translation.

" _Your power and skill in battle has impressed the One. He wishes an audience with you — a great honor. Come with us now and we will take you to him._ "

"They want us to go with them," she explained. "I don't suspect that they mean us harm."

"How . . .  _sure_  are you?"

"Not very. Who is the One?" She directed the latter part of her question to the Rakata.

" _He is the leader of our tribe, the Great Champion who will unite the Rakata and take us to the stars. He has feasted on the flesh of many foes. Come with us and we will take you to him now._ "

Anna pursed her lips. "I think it's probably for the best that we go," she murmured. " _But it doesn't look like they're taking our weapons. So we should probably make sure we keep our guard up._ " She finished her sentence in Twi'leki, likely figuring that the Rakata could only understand Basic, and turned back. "All right. Take us to the One."

" _Follow me._ " As they walked forward, clumping together into a tighter group, the Rakata fanned out around them in an escort.

"It appears they trained the rancor to fight with them," Juhani commented, scanning their escort.

"Anything can be trained from a young enough age, I suspect," Jolee replied. "Any new insights?"

Anna shook her head. "No."

"You're taking this in well," Canderous commented.

"On the outside. Inside I'm screaming in complete and utter terror."

He chuckled and clapped her on the shoulder.

Their escort waited, mostly at the entrance to the encampment on the other side of the beach. They followed their guide through the enclave, Anna cautiously watching the Rakata that lined up to stare at them. HK hung close to Anna, waiting for any sign of attack with his blaster ready. Most looked at the droid and hurried off — others continued to stare in rapt amazement.

They were led through to a round room at the far end, decorated as they would have expected for a high-ranking individual. The roof was open, and in the center stood a Rakata. He was dressed much finer than the rest, his staff more adorned and intricately carved. A few rancor roared in alcoves made into cages, pacing the bars of their prisons. Their escort bowed and left, and his eyes affixed on her. She held out her hand to stop them, and took several steps forward into the inner rim of the floor's carved circle.

" _Revan_." The Rakata she assumed was the One said, pacing a slow, scrutinizing circle around her. She stood rigidly in place, ready to give an order to fire at a moment's notice. " _Somehow I knew we would meet again. Even when you vanished I knew you would not forget your vow._ "

She blinked as he moved to stand in front of her, gaze still scrutinizing. She recognized the look. It was a bit of wonder and quite a bit of the here-is-a-Jedi-now-how-can-I-best-utilize-this-resource look that she'd come to expect. " _And when my scouts told me of a great warrior from the sky, slaughtering our raiding parties with mysterious powers and magics I knew you had at last returned!_ "

Anna glanced back at the others and nodded them forward. HK waited in the back, keeping an eye on the One's guards, as the rest stepped forward. "He says he knew it was my ship that landed," she translated simply. "Apparently I swore a vow to him."

"You know what it was?" Anna gave Jolee a look of long-suffering and returned her attention to the conversation.

"I apologize profusely," she said. "But I don't remember any vows being made."

His eyes blinked once, then twice. " _Your words are confusing. I recognize you — the one called Revan, who fell from the sky, who came here before with Malak, the one who served you._ " He waved a hand, obviously growing agitated. She held up her hands. " _You promised to slay our enemy in exchange for our aid! You swore to destroy the Elders and bring us their secrets! Does this mean nothing to you now?_ "

"We ran into a bit of a . . .  _complication_ ," she explained quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation fast. "Malak turned on me and attempted to kill me. I have no memory past a few months ago."

He paused, eyes flashing in another slow blink. " _I . . . sense that what you say is true. Something is different about you. Yet the power of magic is within you still! You can destroy the Elders and fulfill your vow!_ "

"He says," she started, now that he seemed to have calmed down. "That I swore to get rid of some people called the Elders. He believes I don't have my memories but he still wants me to do this." She looked back. "So . . . just what exactly  _did_ I do the last time I was here?" She wanted to make sure there were no more surprises waiting for herself elsewhere on the island, since it seemed that Revan's primary job previously had been primarily to make her amnesiac self's life more difficult when she wasn't attempting to take over the galaxy.

" _I suppose if what you say is true you will have many questions. Very well. You arrived with your servant three of your galactic standard years ago. My scouts saw your sky ship plummet to the earth and went to loot the site. They attempted to take you prisoner, but you unleashed your magic upon them. Seeing your power, they bowed before you and brought you here._ "

She relayed the information, and Canderous snorted. "Bet you loved that."

"I bet I did." Anna looked back at the One.

" _You used your power to rip our language from my mind even as you drove Basic into ours so we could help you in your quest to find something called the Star Forge._ "

"Right . . . And how was I going to do that?" At Jolee's look she translated.

" _The answers were in the Temple of the Ancients, but we could not help you enter. Those secrets lie with the Elders alone, and they protect them with their lives._ "

"Right," Anna said. "So I was going to go into the Elders' settlement — wherever that is — and come back with the secrets of how to enter this temple?" That sounded like a brilliant plan, putting advanced technology in the hands of these creatures. She doubted they'd know about the disruptor field or the Star Forge hovering over their sun. But . . . "Have ships always fallen from the sky here?"

" _Yes. It has always been this way; though in recent generations it has occurred more frequently. We do not understand them but my scouts rush to the sites to collect pieces in the hopes that we may one day unlock these secrets._ "

"So you collect pieces of these ships from the crash sites? I need a few parts for mine, and you may have the pieces I need."

" _If you agree to our vow, I will let you examine them._ " He swept his hand at an unbarred alcove to his left. " _We do not know what piece you need, nor what the function of any piece may be._ "

"So if I agree to destroy the Elders you'll let me look at your parts."

" _You may do it before you leave. As a show of good faith._ "

"Fair." She nodded. "Jolee, would you like to take a look? See if they have any stabilizers we could fit into the  _Hawk_?"

He nodded. "I'll see if there's anything we can use."

"This temple," Anna asked, redirecting her attention to the One. "I needed in there last time? What's in there?"

" _We do not know. No Rakata can enter the temple. But you and your servant sought a way to enter, in order to escape this world and to seek ancient knowledge. But only the Elders know how to pass the barrier — and if you bring us their secrets, we will know as well. That was our agreement._ "

"But you said no Rakata can go in — how do the Elders even know how to bypass the barrier?"

" _They guard the ancient secrets in their compound, including how to enter the Temple itself. I've lost many warriors and war beasts storming their gates but they use weapons of light and fire against us. It is impossible._ "

Anna murmured the description to Juhani. "Sounds like that's where we need to go," she finished, quietly. Juhani nodded.

"It does appear so." She nodded. "Fair. We'll go to the Elders. Where is their compound?"

#

"I  _really_ don't like this."

"Shut up, Candy." Anna nudged a dead Rakata with her boot, looking up at the electrical fields surrounding the strange encampment. "There appears to be a gap here —"

"You're kidding me," Canderous said. "I am not walking into that."

"Scared?" she teased. He scoffed.

"Of a little shock? Nah. I can handle that. You, on the other hand..."

She punched his arm. "Stay here." She squared her shoulders, looked between the two pillars marking the front of the row, closed her eyes, and took two steps forward.

When she heard Juhani release a held breath she opened her eyes. Noting a distinct lack of death greeting her, she took a few more tentative steps forward. "Hello?"

A shimmering projection of a Rakata appeared in front of her, examining her closely. " _You are not Rakata. What is your business here, off-worlder?_ "

"Uh . . ." She glanced back at Jolee. "I'm looking for information about the Star Forge? I was here be—"

The projection took a step back. " _You — you are Revan! The Council wishes to speak with you. You may enter._ "

She looked over her shoulder. "All right. We can—"

The projection held out his hand. " _Only_ you _may enter._ "

"Wait a moment," Jolee said, taking a step forward. "She isn't going in there by herself."

The apparition paused, then nodded. " _You may bring_ one _companion._ "

She looked back over her shoulder. "Jolee, come with me. Canderous, Juhani, HK, stay out here." Neither Canderous nor Juhani looked pleased, but they obliged. She nodded to Jolee and they walked forward.

"How did you know they were insisting I go in alone?" Anna asked. Jolee shrugged.

"Was fairly obvious, the way he was pointing at you."

"Fair."

"Just so you know," he said as the doors opened. "I expect you to translate for me."

Anna never got to answer. As soon as the doors closed behind them they found themselves surrounded by a collection of pike-wielding Rakata and old droids. Their hands fell to their lightsabers as Anna stepped around, pressing her back against Jolee's. "Still regretting coming?" she asked.

"Only about as much as I regret leaving the Shadowlands."

The front rank parted to allow several Rakata, wearing more ornate clothing than the others, through to the center. They closed around them, the Rakata with the weapons still keeping them trained on the two Jedi.

" _Revan._ " The first Rakata spoke. He wore a ceremonial circlet that looked ancient, and Anna thought it marked him as the spokesman. " _We of the Elder Council did not expect to see you again. We thought you had betrayed us. Why have you returned to our village, after all this time?_ "

"This would be a good time for translating," Jolee hissed. Anna glanced at him and did so, quickly.

"The last time I was here," she asked. "What did I want?"

" _Is this some kind of trick? Are you playing some sort of game?_ " The circle closed on them, and she held up her hands.

"Oh, all right, let's just . . . let's not get anxious," she said placatingly. "Let me start from the beginning. The man who was with me before, Malak? He tried to kill me. I survived, but I have no memories before — well, that part is quite complicated. Suffice to say I don't remember anything before several months ago. I didn't even know this planet existed until last week."

" _And how do we know we can trust you—_ "

"Because does it  _look_  like I'm lying?  _Please_ believe me."

The head of the council regarded her for several long moments, then nodded and sighed. " _You came in search of a way to enter the Temple of the Ancients. You claimed to wish the destruction of the Star Forge, and we were foolish enough to believe you. Unaware of your intentions we helped you enter the Temple. But the Forge still hangs in our sky, and we want to know why your promise was not fulfilled and why we were betrayed._ "

"Again, it's . . . complicated. I don't know," she admitted.

" _Then why are you here?_ "

"Uh . . ." She glanced at Jolee out of the corner of her eye. "I need to get into the Temple of the Ancients to destroy the Star Forge?" The ring took another step forward. "For real this time! I mean it!"

" _Do you think we are fools?_ " he demanded. " _Do you think we have forgotten your lies?_ "

"I told you, I've lost all my memories. It changed me. I'm not who I was. I'm really going to destroy it this time, I swear."

"This is some fine negotiating you're doing." Jolee warily eyed a Rakata that was starting to step too close to him.

"Shut it, old man," Anna hissed.

He glanced around the circle. " _They say the experience of the past defines us and makes us what we are. If it is true that you have no memory then perhaps you have changed. But how are we to know this is not some trick, Revan?_ "

"I can't give you anything, just my word. But the part of me that was Revan is gone. I swear it."

" _You say you are not who you once were, yet here on our world you repeat your actions! Like last time you crashed here, like last time you've come for our aid._ " He turned. " _Take the betrayer outside. We_ —"

"No!" Anna protested, stepping forward. "There is an entire  _fleet_  en route to destroy the Forge as we speak." This caught his attention, and he turned back. "Before we crashed we alerted the Republic we serve to the location. I  _need_ in that Temple to take down the deflector field around this planet before every ship they send here crashes like we did. If you want the Star Forge destroyed then getting me into that Temple is your only hope." She paused, furrowing her brow. "If you won't let me go in, let my companions. I'll even stay here as collateral."

"Anna, you're insane," Jolee muttered. She glared at him.

"I'll stay and you can interrogate me or whatever, just let us get  _someone_  inside that Temple to take down the field.  _Please_."

" _You would not have begged before_ ," he mused. She shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't have." Anna frowned. "What can we do to prove our intentions are noble? I can't convince you otherwise."

He nodded. " _That I sense that you mean. But words are easy to say._ "

"Please let me do  _something_." There was an edge of desperation to her voice. She needed to get into that Temple. She needed to get to the Star Forge. She needed to save Bastila.

" _There are scouts that have been captured by the One, the tribe that seeks to destroy us. Many were brutally slaughtered but at least one is still alive. They will torture him to force him to reveal what he knows of us. And then he will be executed. You must risk your life to save another. Rescue him, and we will_ consider _helping you._ "

She translated for Jolee, and he shook his head. "It's better than nothing."

" _We would prefer you end this without bloodshed, but we do not believe that will be possible. The One is . . . not prone to negotiate._ "

She nodded, glancing back at Jolee. "We'll do what we can. Now can we leave?"

He answered with one curt nod of his head, and the rear ranks of the circle opened up. With a sigh, Anna turned on her heel and strode out. Jolee glanced back at the Elder, shook his head, and followed.

They did  _not_  have this sort of time.

#

Carth stared out the window blankly, eyes focused on the stars shining unreachabley outside the planet's atmosphere.

Well, they'd found it all right.

Anna had been out all day with the other Jedi, Canderous, and HK as the rest of them tried to fix the ship. All five had come back and collapsed immediately, barely pausing for dinner. HK, of course, was fine and standing guard outside the ship.

He leaned back in his chair, frowning. The stabilizers they'd found were for a different model ship that would take adapting for the  _Hawk_ , but he should be able to repair it in time to rendezvous with the Republic fleet when they arrived in – he looked at the chrono – eighteen to twenty-four standard hours.

Footsteps padded in the corridor behind him. "Hey," he said quietly as the door slipped closed.

"Hey," Anna murmured, settling herself into his lap. Her head fell onto his shoulder, entire body slumping against him. "I'm tired," she complained.

"How'd it go?" he laced his fingers together on her hip, holding her to him.

"Well," she started. "There were two warring factions, one hated the other, we were forced to wipe out that entire side, and I get to go alone into a temple full of ex-Jedi tomorrow morning."

"Alone?"

"They won't let anyone else in."

He sighed, pulling her closer to him. "Will you be all right?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine." She lifted her head, looking out the cockpit window. "I . . . well, I didn't do too badly on Korriban, and . . ."

"Hey." He turned her head to his, thumbing her chin. "You nearly died."

"Carth . . . there's no other way." She ran her hand through his hair, circling his ear with her thumb. "I have to."

"You can't even take Jolee or Juhani?"

She shook her head, tracing the line of his brow. "Apparently I pulled that the last time I was here. They aren't going to fall for it again."

"Not even for me?" Carth nuzzled her neck, breathing in the dust and ozone that radiated off her body from the myriad of fighting she'd done that day.

"No, not even for my flyboy." She laughed breathily, still playing with his hair. "But I'll come back. Promise."

Carth held her closer, face still buried in her hair. Anna sighed then shifted in his lap so her legs rested on either side of his hips, drawing his lips to hers gently. "You're still worried."

"Of course I am." He rubbed his thumbs in small circles on her hipbones. "I'm always worried about you."

She leaned in again, sweeping his bottom lip with her tongue as she pressed their lips together. "I'll just have to give you something else to think about."

"Like what?" A shudder slipped down her spine as his voice lowered.

"I don't know," she replied, hands sliding down for the toggles on his jacket. "But I think I can come up with something."

"Do you?"

Anna tugged his jacket open, stripping it and his shirt and throwing them both to the side. "I think . . ." she repeated, running her hands over his chest. "That I can come up with something."

 


	50. Chapter 50

Carth was still asleep when Anna extracted herself from him, pulling her robes and the vest he'd bought her back on and strapping her lightsabers back to her hips. She carried her boots out of the cockpit, stealing through the ship silently. A quick stop grabbed her breakfast and a cup of caffa, and she headed towards the ramp. T3 rolled by her and she patted his head as she walked by, the droid chirping quietly before continuing.

She pulled the lever, munching on the piece of cold fish she'd stolen. When the ramp was lowered just the smallest bit she wiggled her way through the crack, dropping silently to the sand.

The Rakata would be waiting for her at dawn. They'd said the ritual would take two hours which, unfortunately, left them enough time to find her (since it wasn't as if they didn't know where she was going). But perhaps she had left even early enough that she'd be inside and gone by the time anyone else awoke.

HK heard her land, of course, and turned his head towards her. "Query," he started. She clapped her hand over his vocabulator, then released it to pull on her boots.

"Sh," she hissed. "Keep guarding the ship."

"Query: Master, are you sneaking off in order to enter a temple full of dangerous meatbags by yourself? I do not recommend this, master . . ."

"I don't have another choice. Stay here, and when they ask just tell them I'll have the deflector down by this afternoon. Do  _not_ let anyone follow me. Stun them if you have to." She pointed at him. " _No blasting_."

"Acknowledgement: It would give me to greater pleasure, master. It is upsetting, though, that you only wish them stunned."

" _No blasting_ ," she repeated, then turned on her heel and walked up the beach, heading for the Temple on the hill just above them. A lone gizka crossed her path but nothing else stirred, the grass covered in damp dew that turned her boots an even darker brown.

Up the hill waited several Rakata, studying an old tome that looked as if it was made on actual paper. She drew to a stop, and they turned towards her. One nodded.

" _Are you prepared, Revan?_ "

She gave him a curt nod. "Perform the ritual. And quickly."

#

Carth stormed into the main hold, half-dressed, looking around wildly. No one was yet awake, just him, and she was already gone. Muttering under his breath about how he should have expected it he headed for the ramp, shrugging his jacket on. Partially lowered. That sneaky  _schutta_.

He had been prepared to force his way into the Temple with her, to  _make_  the Rakata let him in. He wasn't letting her walk into a building full of dark Jedi and Force knew what else by herself. No way in  _hell_.

He lowered the ramp the rest of the way, storming out and directly into the business end of HK's blaster rifle.

"Get out of my way," Carth snarled.

"Recrimination: I have explicit orders to keep everyone from following master."

"Great," he replied, trying to push the blaster aside. HK didn't budge, and the droid's reinforced metal was far stronger than he was. "Get out of my way."

"Implicit Threat: I only have to warn you once, meatbag."

"She'd deactivate you if you shot m—"

T3 chirped from the top of the ramp disapprovingly, reaching out with his manipulator to grab the back of Carth's jacket and drag him back into the ship.

"Recrimination: You would have done the same thing, trashbin."

T3 replied with a disapproving whistle and parked himself at the top of the ramp.

After a few minutes Carth finally regained control of his limbs, picking himself off the floor. T3 whirred. "You shot me," he protested, glaring at HK.

"Condescending retort: Yes, that is an accurate observation. Threat: If you attempt to leave the ship again, then I will stun you again."

"Let me guess." Carth settled himself on top of the ramp. "Anna told you to make sure none of us interfered."

"Explanation: Of course, meatbag. Otherwise she would scrap me for having blasted you, even with a stun. Suggestive aside: I do hope that I have created no  _permanent_  damage, else the master may not have a suitable biological distraction."

Carth felt the smallest flush rise in the back of his neck, but didn't reply as footsteps sounded on the steel behind him. Hurried footsteps. He glanced over his shoulder as Jolee jerked to a stop, tucking his robe around him. He looked . . . almost worried. "You all right?"

"She's gone?" he asked. There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Jolee!" Juhani sprinted up the hall, stumbling to a stop behind him. She looked surprisingly disheveled, as if she'd thrown her robes on in a hurry after waking up. "Did you—"

"Yes," he replied simply.

"What's going on?"

"Anna is endangering herself if she goes into that Temple alone," Juhani explained. Carth was on his feet in a second.

"Then what are we waiting for? We—"

"Explicit Threat: I have warned one meatbag already that no one is to follow master to the Temple." HK's gun was held directly at them. Jolee sighed and started down the ramp.

"Jolee, he's serious—"

"We don't have time for this," Jolee replied.

HK began to threaten again, but Jolee's hand merely twitched and the droid slumped, eyes flickering, and he continued on. "Come on, Juhani."

Carth ran after the two Jedi. Jolee glanced over his shoulder. "Stay with the ship."

"I'm comi—"

"Stay with the ship." Jolee's voice left no room for argument, and Carth sagged slightly. Juhani looked back at him sadly.

"I'm sorry, Carth, but I don't believe you'll be able to help," she apologized, before sprinting after Jolee. Carth stared after them, then shook his head and jogged to catch back up.

"Carth," Jolee warned. Something had apparently  _really_  shaken him. "You won't be able to go in." He didn't reply. Then he'd wait. He needed to make sure she was all right — that was it. Jolee rolled his eyes and picked up his pace, leading the way up the path to the Temple.

"Juhani." She glanced over at him. "Juhani, what's going on?"

"I can't tell you, Carth."

"Is she  _safe_?"

"Physically I doubt there will be much of a problem."

"Is she in danger of  _falling_?" He thought his heart might stop with the look Juhani gave him. "I have to—"

"You  _have to_  make sure the ship can fly once the disruptor is down," Jolee said. "We will take care of Anna, don't worry."

The 'take care' part was what worried him. He'd told her  _he'd_  be the one to protect her from herself, not them. He started to argue but Jolee shook his head.

"We'll have enough of a time getting the Rakata to let us in. You are not even able to physically enter the Temple."

Carth remained stubbornly silent as he trudged behind them. As they came out of the canyons they spotted a group of Rakata kneeling in a circle by the Temple ramp, chanting in unison. Anna was sitting at the base of the ramp with her back against one of the decorative supports, dozing with her robe wrapped close around her in the early morning chill.

The Rakata either sensed or spotted them and stood, breaking off the chanting circle. Anna opened her eyes and they could see her mouth move in a vehement swear. "What the hell are you three doing here?" she snapped. One of the Rakata turned and spoke to her, and she waved him off. "I'll handle this."

She started forward. "What the  _hell_  are you doing here?" she snapped again. "I gave HK orders —"

"And I disabled him," Jolee said matter-of-factly. "If you go in there alone, you'll be in grave danger."

"Yeah. It's full of dark Jedi and Force knows what else. Of course it's dangerous."

"It's more than that." Jolee glanced at Carth and seized Anna's arm, dragging her away.

"Will you tell me what's going on  _now_ ," Carth asked, glaring at Juhani. She sighed and shook her head.

"I cannot explain it, Carth."

He looked over to where Anna and Jolee were arguing, then watched as Anna suddenly sagged and let her head fall into her hands then nod, defeated. He swallowed as she turned back to the Rakata.

"Continue the ritual," she ordered. The leader argued, but she cut him off. "Two of my companions will be coming with me. Our plans have changed." He began to argue. "Do you want the Star Forge destroyed?"

He stared at her for a few moments, then turned back and nodded to his companions. They sank back into meditation, and Anna walked over to them. "Carth. You won't be able to enter the Temple."

"I know." He looked back at the Rakata. "How much longer will it take?"

"Not long. We'll wait by the ramp. As soon as it's down we need to be gone." She nodded Jolee and Juhani towards it, and started after them. Carth gripped her elbow. "Carth, I need you to go back to the ship and have her ready to fly."

"I know," he replied. "Just . . . be careful, all right?"

"I will."

"You promise?"

She nodded. "As much as I can promise, yes."

Carth rested his hand on the side of her face and leaned in, searing their lips together. Anna leaned into him, finding his hand and intertwining her gloved fingers with his. "Be careful," he whispered. "And come back to me."

"I will," she answered, leaning into give him another quick kiss.

"Anna, before—" he started, staring down at her. She rested her hand on his face. "Before you go in there —"

Her head jerked away when one of the Rakata yelled, and she quickly pulled out of his hand and took off at a sprint. "Go!" she yelled towards Jolee and Juhani, sending the two Jedi rocketing towards the entrance. Carth stood helplessly, watching as Anna took three steps more and dove through the door, just before the shimmering purple barrier that had fallen a minute before sprung back over the entrance.

He let his hand fall to the side as the Rakata chattered to one another, walking towards what he assumed was their enclave. Carth's shoulders sagged and he turned back towards the beach. As he started down the hill, he straightened back up.

He'd need to tell the others what happened. It wouldn't be good for them to see him looking as if his entire world was ending.

#

Anna lay flat on the floor, panting, her eyes closed. Jolee was holding himself up against the wall panting, and Juhani had fallen on her knees, gasping for breath.

The run up the ramp, while it'd been a dead, insane sprint and had sucked their energy slightly, was nothing compared to the pressure of the dark side bearing down on them. The air in the Temple was thick with it, almost painful, clogging the air and making it hard to breathe. Anna finally forced herself to her feet, closing her eyes and pushing out through the Force to nudge the heaviness away from herself.

"You two all right?" she asked, scrubbing dust off the side of her face.

"Fine," Juhani answered. Jolee nodded and waved her off.

"Then let's get started. The sooner we're out of here the better." Anna unsnapped her lightsabers from her belt and strode into a hallway.

#

By the time he made it back to the ship everyone was awake and looking confused, HK pointing his gun at them. Mission spotted Carth and jumped up and down from her spot at the top of the ramp. "Carth!" she yelled. "Where is everyone?"

"Jolee, Juhani, and Anna are going through the temple." He patted HK as he walked by. "You're fine. No one can go after her."

The droid whirred, but lowered his gun. Carth suspected HK was a few minutes from threatening him for letting Jolee disable him.

"They gonna be all right?" Canderous looked fairly unconcerned, leaning up against the ramp's frame.

"We'll find out soon enough. Meanwhile we need to make sure the ship's ready for the Republic Fleet, so let's give her another go-over." They stared at him, and he waved. "I'm serious. Come on. We don't want to blow up in the middle of the battle or anything."

#

"So far it's been mostly droids. I'm not sure what you're worried about."

It had been mostly droids, with random scatterings of Sith and trainees. No one not using a lightsaber, which made her happy that Juhani and Jolee had talked their way in. She nudged the droid's leg aside, checking for salvageable parts, but nothing jumped out at her.

"It wasn't the fighting we were worried about," Jolee answered, nudging the dead Sith who'd been with the droid. "We should keep moving."

"Agreed."

Anna nodded at them and headed towards the next door, reaching out to press the button that would open it. It slid apart, and the two Sith inside turned towards them. One of them took a step back, eyes widening under her cowl.

"Revan — you are back!"

Anna blinked, then replied with an awkward wave. "Hello?"

"Malak told us what happened to you — that the Jedi stripped you of your power. You are a shell of what you were!"

She blinked again.

"You are not fit to rule the Sith any longer," the other Sith barked. "Darth Malak will reward us well for your head!"

Anna brought her lightsaber up in a block as the first leapt forward, dual lightsabers flashing in her hands. Anna frowned — she wasn't used to having to fight a fellow dual-wielder.

Juhani twirled the lightsaber, crashing it down and forcing the woman to block it before swinging back into Anna, and she dodged and spun underneath the blades. With Juhani distracting her, Anna drove both 'sabers through the woman's chest. The other Sith flew by her head, slamming into the wall with a loud crack. Jolee deactivated his lightsaber, and looked over. Anna was leaning heavily against the wall, rubbing her forehead.

"Are you all right?" Juhani asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder. Anna jerked away.

"I'm fine," she snapped, straightening up. She felt like she'd known that woman fairly well once, though how or why she didn't know. But it'd brought almost what was a flash of memory that disappeared as soon as it'd come, and she shook her head. "Let's keep moving."

Without waiting for an answer she strode forward, opening the next door. Inside was another Sith, this one wearing the silver-plated armor of one of Malak's Sith shock-troopers — the same as Darth Bandon had once been. He was deflecting shots from a practice droid, and before he noticed them he extended his hand. Lightning flashed off his hands, and flew into the droid. The droid exploded in a shower of sparks and fragments, and he turned.

"Ah, Revan," he said. "Lord Malak mentioned that you were still alive. At last - a challenge worthy of me. I intensified my training ten-fold in the hopes to face you in combat!"

Anna's reply was to ignite her lightsaber.

It had been one thing for Malak to call her Revan, for Bastila to confirm it, for some random Exchange mooks to get their hands on some vids and determine that all she could be was Revan. It was something else  _completely_  for random Sith to recognize her as the former Dark Lord.

It was making her attempt to put off thinking about her identity a  _lot_  more difficult.

She threw her lightsaber, catching it when he parried it back. He picked Juhani up mid-leap, throwing her back into a wall, and caught Jolee in the middle of a block, throwing him after her to leave himself alone with Anna.

Anna herself had stumbled back, another flash of memory threatening to overwhelm her. Why hadn't this been happening before? Was it the concentration of Force in the Temple or was it just a natural fading of the amnesia? She recovered in time to lurch forward, knocking her attacker off-balance as she parried his blow and stabbed forward. He dodged back, swinging wildly as his hand thrust forward and there was the briefest flash of lightning on the tips of his fingers. Anna spun her lightsaber, slicing straight through his wrist. In his moment of pained distraction she thrust her other through his chest.

Jolee was busy picking himself up with a groan when she staggered back, collapsing back against the wall. Her lightsabers dropped to the ground, letting her head fall into her empty hands. He glanced at Juhani, who merely waved a hand, and he settled down next to Anna. "You all right, missy?"

She shook her head. "Since we got in here," she murmured. "I've been remembering. It-it's one thing to be told that I'm Revan but it's something completely different to have random people recognize me  _as_  Revan. I-I was trying to not think about it but I keep having all these jumbly memories coming back and it . . . it's overwhelming. I don't know I . . . I can't do this." She choked back a sob. "Jolee, I can't. The entire time I'm here I want to just . . . just kill everything I see, and now we're fighting people who  _know_  me and the flashes are getting worse. If it's bad here what will it be like on the Star Forge? What if I kill everyone there? What if I decide it's far easier to just cave and fall again and this time finish the job?"

"Well," Jolee started, glancing up as Juhani sank down on her other side. "Having never been in your  _precise_  circumstances I can't begin to know just what you're going through . . ." He sighed. "However, there are several things I  _can_  tell you. The first is that, even when I tracked you through the Shadowlands, I didn't believe you were evil. Had you fallen? Yes. But it wasn't evil I sensed in you."

She lifted her head. "What was it, then?"

Jolee closed his eyes, trying to remember back. "More of a resignation, if I remember correctly. Can't expect me to remember everything, hmph. Will you falling now have severe consequences? Yes. But do I think you will?" He shrugged. "From what I've seen, I doubt it. You're smart, and you're strong — which is an interesting combination for a Jedi, I have to say."

"You will be  _fine_ , Anna," Juhani comforted. "We will help you resist. We won't let you fall."

"If I do, do you think you'll be able to stop me?" She raised her head slightly. "I mean, I terrify the Jedi and I survived a laser blast to the face."

Jolee and Juhani's eyes met over her head, and Jolee rubbed Anna's shoulder. "Well, I believe you'll be able to resist. You did fine on Korriban and—"

She shook her head. "Korriban wasn't this bad."

"Because you did not know who you  _were_ ," Juhanai said. "You believed yourself to be the same as any Jedi. You did not have the pressure of your identity weighing on you, and you were not guarding so hard against falling. But now you fear a single misstep." Anna looked up, and Jolee nodded in agreement.

"The Jedi are not supposed to be afraid," he said. "The emotion is too strong. But at the same time nearly every Jedi fears the dark side — mostly because their masters and the Council tell them to. We pair that with the fact that you  _know_  you cannot fall because of what happened before . . . It's natural."

"Is it always going to be like this? Am I just always going to live in fear of  _myself_?"

Jolee nodded. "Probably. But I suspect that it will get better in time, once you've sat and thought about it a bit. Unfortunately we don't have time now."

She nodded, swallowing heavily, and pushed herself to her feet. "All right. Let's hope this basement isn't far." Anna stood and walked away towards the next door. Juhani stood, helping pull Jolee to his feet.

"Does she look more tired to you?" Juhani asked quietly. Jolee nodded.

"Just keep up your guard."


	51. Chapter 51

They'd apparently cleared out the main level of the Temple before finding the chatty computer in the basement, though locating the ramp to the roof was difficult.

They followed Anna, mostly, her walking with datapad in hand as she tried to find the shortest path to the roof on the map the computer had given her. "Looks like we can cut through here and take a left, and . . ." Her voice trailed off as they passed a door on their right. She stopped, then she slowly reached out and pressed the door lock.

It opened into a long room with a row of blaster turrets on either side, now deactivated after Anna had sliced into one of the computers. Almost looking as if she were in shock, Anna walked down the hall. Jolee and Juhani glanced at one another, then hurried after her. "Anna?" Jolee asked, hand raising as if he briefly considered touching her shoulder, but it fell back to his side when she turned suddenly into a dead-ended alcove. A slab of rock that looked like rubble seemed to be her destination, and a closer look showed that it seemed smeared with different layers of an old, dried crust that certainly appeared to be blood. Anna reached out along the side and gently pulled up a shackle from where it was hanging limply, embedded in the underside of the stone. She looked at it for a few seconds then dropped it as if she'd been shocked, stumbling back and collapsing to her hands and knees with a cry. Jolee was next to her in a second. "Anna—"

"I'm fine," she panted, bowing her head towards her chest. Jolee looked at her worriedly. "Just touch it!" she snapped, closing her eyes. That confirmed her fears about Bastila, then, but she suspected that neither Jolee nor Juhani would hear the echo she did. Bastila hadn't been the first Jedi broken there, and somewhere back in the pain she knew enough to sense her own touch —

Anna climbed to her feet, determination setting her mouth into a thin line. "Stand back," she ordered.

"Ann-"

"Do it!" Her voice shook, and the duo traded a look before leaving the alcove. When she turned back to the slab she didn't see Jolee or Juhani's hands fall to their lightsabers.

She was a warrior. She rarely used the Force outside battle or boredom. She'd been shown how to break rock, once, and as with everything it'd come so naturally to her that she didn't bother to practice. And she knew that bothering to use the Force now, especially  _here_ , would be dangerous. She was an emotional whirlwind and had been for several hours — confusion at the random memories pressing against her consciousness, a near-overwhelming sorrow at what had been done to her friend and what  _she_ had done to countless Jedi before her, but mostly hatred at herself for things she couldn't recall doing.

But she directed all of that at the slab, opening her eyes as it fractured apart and collapsed in a slide of rubble. Anna straightened her shoulders and released a held breath. She felt marginally better, like some awful remnant of her identity had disappeared in a wave of catharsis, and without a word turned on her heel sharply and began to walk past the still turrets.

Juhani looked to Jolee for guidance as the closest thing she had to a Jedi Master on this mission. As she looked at him this time he merely nodded with a resigned and knowing look crossing his face.

"Jo—"

"Just keep your eyes open," he replied, starting after Anna.

The ramp to the Temple summit wasn't far, merely guarded by a pair of old Temple droids. Sunlight shone from an exit up ahead at the top of the ramp, and Anna checked her chrono. They'd been going through the Temple for about five hours — they had very little time before the Republic ships could start showing up.

"Do you sense anything?" Jolee asked suddenly. Juhani nodded, and Anna faltered when she made herself focus briefly. She took a step back, shaking her head.

"I can't," she said. "I can't. Not after this Temple, not after seeing what happened to her because of me—"

"You know you must," Juhani replied.

Anna took several slow, deep breaths, then nodded and started forward with her shoulders squared.

They walked across the white stone top of the Temple, spotting a ship on the far side where the computer had said the deflector was. A ship was already parked there, and Anna swallowed when a figure started towards them, a red double-bladed lightsaber in hand. There was a hiss as Juhani and Jolee ignited theirs as well, but Anna left hers on her belt.

Bastila drew to a stop, and Anna got her first good look at her.

She looked awful, her skin a pasty pale color. A few fading bruises were visible on her face and trailed down her neck with two ugly, persisting ones on the side of her jaw and around one of her eyes, which had started to turn the golden color of a fallen Jedi. She walked with slightly sagged shoulders, but determination was set in her face.

"Revan," she said. Anna winced. "I knew you'd come for me. Malak thought you would be afraid to enter the Temple again but he doesn't know you as I do. Not since you've changed."

"Not since I've lost my memories, you mean," Anna replied, hands tight on her lightsabers.

"Bastila, come with us. We can help you," Juhani pleaded. Bastila turned her eyes to the Cathar disparagingly.

"I have sworn allegiance to Lord Malak and the Sith," she snapped. "I am no longer a pawn of the Jedi Council."

"Bastila—" Anna started.

"Surely  _you_ know what I mean. Stripping you of your power, turning you into their puppet — they speak of the dark side with fear but that fear is merely a tool to maintain control. Their only goal is manipulation of the strong! " She scoffed. "Why do you think they forbid you and Malak from joining the Mandalorian Wars? They knew you would realize your true potential in the heat of battle. He has shown me how the Council has been using me as they once tried to use you. They've been holding me back because they knew one day I would surpass them all."

"Bastila," Anna repeated, taking the smallest step forward. "Bastila, what he did to you — Bastila, I'm  _sorry_. But this isn't you. Just listen to me,  _please_."

"This  _is_  me," Bastila insisted. "This is more me than I ever was as a Jedi! Of course I resisted at first, if that is what you wish to hear. I endured with the passionless serenity of a true Jedi. But after a week of endless tortures I saw the truth."

"They changed you by torturing you, doesn't that give you an  _idea_  about how  _bad_  this is?"

"No," she insisted. "Malak forced me to acknowledge my anger and pain, the liberating power of those emotions. Then he showed me how the Jedi have denied me what is mine by right! They gladly used my meditation in their wars but treated me like a child because they were jealous of my power, of what I could become!"

"It couldn't possibly be because you  _acted_  like a spoiled child half the time," Jolee said. Bastila glared at him.

"The same as all of you! You wanted me to follow you, Revan, to obey all your orders, but you used me the same as the rest."

"I never tried to use you, and you know it!" Anna insisted. "It's brainwashing, Bastila, pure and simple. Malak is  _lying_  to you. He's lying to you and he'll use you just as you believe they did!"

"Lies?!" Bastila replied. " _You_  are the one living a lie! The Jedi made you into something you're not; they made you their slave. You used to be Revan, Master of the Sith, but you're simply a pawn of the Jedi and the Republic they serve just as I was. A pity your power is so diluted. You could have been as strong as I am now . . . stronger, even.

"But that will never happen. Already Malak is planning to use the power of the Star Forge to destroy the Republic and conquer the galaxy. And I will be the apprentice at his side — after I prove my worth by destroying you!"

"That is enough!" Anna took a step forward, bristling, and Bastila raised her lightsaber. It shook slightly.

"Not another step, Revan!" Her voice wavered the smallest bit.

"Why not?" Anna repeated, taking another step. "This is going to end in bloodshed so we may as well stop trading insults." Her lightsaber leapt into her hand, and Bastila took a step forward.

Juhani stepped forward, but Jolee held out his hand. "Quarters are too close. We'll jump in if we have to."

"She might ki—"

"We'll step in before that happens."

Anna parried her blade, igniting her second lightsaber and bringing it under the first. Bastila leapt back, answering with another swing that Anna blocked easily. Bastila had a distinct advantage in that she was actually trying to kill her, and Anna was aiming for a injury that would maim at most. She wouldn't be able to kill Bastila, and she knew it. Anna was sure Bastila knew that as well.

Fortunately she knew how Bastila fought. She had always had a weakness with the double-blade she was so fond of, leaving openings left and right that a skilled, mobile duelist could exploit. Anna found one, scoring a strike along her side; then another on her shoulder when she was too slow to react. She just needed to disable her long enough to —

Bastila reached out and blasted her backwards, and Anna managed to roll through it to her feet. Bastila took several steps back, drawing closer to her ship. Anna stepped back towards her, hands white on her lightsabers. Jolee and Juhani nodded when she glanced at them.

They may not be able to save her.

"You are stronger than I'd thought, after what's been done to you."

"You traveled with me, Bastila," she replied. "You know how strong I am."

She scoffed. "It seems as if Malak was wrong — the power of the dark side is not lost to you after all, Revan."

"Stop calling me that," Anna snapped. "I'm not Revan any more."

The next person who called her that . . .

"You can deny what you are but you are only fooling yourself. I know the truth. We were tied together when I saved you on your ship — I can see the shadows in your mind!"

"And that connection is why I know this isn't  _you_ ," Anna repeated. "You are not evil. Bastila—"

She shook her head, almost as if resisting the urge to flee — but whether it was towards them or back to the shuttle behind her, Anna didn't know. "Those are not your true feelings. You're speaking as a tool of the Council."

"And you're speaking as a tool of Malak. I fail to see the difference." She bristled again. "What did he tell you? Did he promise you power, or wealth, or prestige? Did he tell you that the only thing the Sith hold for you is death — either from the Jedi, or from Malak, or from some upstart envious of your position? You aren't evil. You say you tasted the darkness because of me — then learn from the mistakes I made."

"No! The only mistake you are making is the one you're insisting on now. You could take the power that is yours by right in an instant."

Juhani glanced at Jolee behind Anna's back, and he nodded. Both took a step backwards, hands grasping their lightsabers tighter.

If this was what they both had seen, they knew it could go a number of ways. Anna was emotionally compromised, she was tired, she was weak. And they, especially Juhani, knew just how much the dark side preyed on that weakness. There was always a chance that something could change in an instant, a memory - or all of them - arise suddenly and swallow the woman they knew whole. Even the Jedi couldn't guarantee that her memories wouldn't suddenly return, or if they would never return at all. She  _may_  regain her memory. She  _may_  not. She  _may_  regain part. Bastila had told Jolee those in "maybes," things the Jedi were not comfortable dealing in.

Because if Revan returned in whole she would do it in one of two ways: as Jedi Revan, the woman who had destroyed the Mandalorians, or as Darth Revan, the woman who had nearly destroyed the Republic. And here, in this Temple, the latter was far more likely. The other option was that  _Anna_ , the new Jedi burdened with the weight of her real identity and fighting against it every step of the way would win, and that she would fight down the dark side that could threaten to overwhelm her.

"You deserve to be the true Master of the Sith, not Malak. I can see this. Together we can destroy him and you can reclaim your lost identity."

Anna ducked her head slightly, but didn't take her eyes off her. "How could I even reclaim it with my memories destroyed, if I wanted to?"

"Your power, your strength of will, the essence of who and what you are — that remained, even with your mind too damaged to remember anything else. But you defied the Jedi once and claimed your rightful title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Together we can defeat Malak and take back what is yours!"

She swallowed heavily and raised her head. "Yes, because that worked out  _so well_  for me the first time," Anna replied, voice harsh. "And it'll work out  _so well_  for me the  _second_  time, I'm sure. Listen to yourself!"

"Bastila, you can still be saved," Juhani said. "The teachings of the Jedi can bring you back to the light and a true understanding of the Force."

"You have no right to speak to me," Bastila snarled. "When you felt the power of the dark side you hid like a scared animal. You know  _nothing_ of the Force or its true potential! But you do, Revan!"

"No," Anna said quietly, cutting her off. "No, I don't. I lost all of that, everything I might have ever done or known. What happened to you — what's happening to you — is my fault, Bastila, and I'm sorry. I'll forever be sorry. You were forced into a situation that you should never have been in, and the Jedi  _did_  wrong you — but they did it by making you hold the reins of a loose cannon, a former Sith Lord who could have destroyed the galaxy. This would have happened to anyone. Please, listen to me."

Anna was winning. Not Darth Revan and not even Jedi Revan. This was a new one, the one who couldn't believe she'd ever done half of what she'd actually done and had to bear the weight of the pain she'd caused.

Bastila scoffed again, taking another step back. "You are nothing but a pathetic fool," she said. "Together we could have ruled an Empire, but I suppose I must be at Lord Malak's side instead. You will be crushed with the Republic and the Jedi under the might of the Star Forge."

With that, she struck out through the Force. The three Jedi stumbled back but managed to stay on their feet, and by the time they'd steadied themselves Bastila was gone. Anna deactivated her lightsabers, watching as her shuttle took off the platform ahead of them and turned for the sky.

"Find the deflector," she murmured. Juhani nodded and started towards the landing pad. Anna stood still, then turned and slammed her foot into a small piece of rubble on the ground, sending it shattering against a wall. A string of profanity followed, cut in half by a choked sob. Jolee rested his hand on her shoulder, only to have her jerk away.

"It isn't your fault," he said.

"How  _isn't_  it?" she yelled, whirling on him. "Unless we've all forgotten suddenly, I was Darth frakking Revan! I started this! Malak learned all this from me, or from wherever we learned it from! I set the foundations for this empire! Everything he did to her, every time he touched her or hurt her it was  _my_  fault! If I hadn't fallen, if I hadn't chased the Mandalorians, if I'd just gone  _back_ to the Jedi and taken whatever punishment they were going to give me,  _none_  of this would have happened!"

She jumped when Jolee smacked the back of her head. "We don't have time for this," he said, in his usual cranky tone. "I understand. I do. But we need to  _focus_. There's still a chance to save Bastila, but you won't do her any good if you're standing here yelling about how unfair everything is."

"What," she said quietly, rubbing her head. "No crazy anecdotes?"

"We don't have time for them." He nodded as Juhani came back.

"The disruptor is down," Juhani said. "It will be safe for Republic ships to arrive." She reached out to grip Anna's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Anna took a deep breath and straightened with a nod. Internally she quickly pushed it back in her mind, forcing herself to recompartmentalize. If she could save Bastila she would — but she wouldn't let herself think about her own culpability in Bastila's fall. She didn't have time — the  _Republic_  didn't have time.

And right now, she had to focus on the big picture.

"Was that it?" Juhani murmured as they fell into step behind her. Jolee shrugged.

"I suspect so."

#

By the time they returned to the ship Anna had started to regain some color, her compartmentalization fully solidified into place and her mind completely focused on what needed to be done — they needed the ship in the air, they needed the Republic to arrive, and they needed to get to the Star Forge, stop Bastila from inevitably using her mediation against the fleet, and  _possibly_ confront Malak. Anna would much rather go in, rescue or disable Bastila (disable, not kill, because if she began to think along those lines her compartments would start to fracture again) and then just let Malak get blown up with the Forge, but she doubted the Force would let that happen. The Force had a habit of being a cranky bitch where she was concerned, after all, so she suspected it wouldn't let her off easy  _this_  time.

Jolee and Juhani were the first to come around the rocks to see the ship, resting on the beach but in a different direction; Anna trudged behind them, staring at the ground and barely hearing as Mission yelled back into the ship.

It was wonderful, because now she had to tell them. How was she supposed to explain that their friend had fallen? She grit her teeth. It  _was_  her fault —  _she'd_  fix it. She had to. Bastila didn't deserve Force Hell or whatever she'd get if she died a Sith.

"You're back!" It was Carth's voice who greeted them first as he led the charge towards them across the beach, Mission hard on his heels. "But . . ." He scanned the small group. "You said you felt Bastila? Is she alive? What happened up there?"

Anna swallowed heavily, finally dragging her eyes up from the sand. "Bastila's fallen, Carth," she said quietly. "Malak turned her."

Mission dug her knuckles into her lips, her eyes closing. Carth stared at her in disbelief. "What? Bastila? How . . . how could that happen?!"

Jolee sighed. "She was always in danger of it, Carth. She was strong, but impatient and headstrong. Malak preyed on that."

"I didn't help," Anna added ruefully.

"Don't go there!" Mission protested. "It's not your fault!"

"No," Jolee said, putting a hand on Anna's shoulder. "This planet is tainted — that Temple and the Star Forge have twisted the Force into an instrument of evil. We've all felt it here. Between Malak and the Forge and her own shortcomings, Bastila had less of a chance than we did. And," he looked back at Anna. "Yes, sensing whatever darkness still exists in you would not have helped, but it was not your fault. The recipe was always there. It merely took Malak's tortures and this planet's energy to finish it."

"Can we save her?" Mission asked.

Jolee shrugged. "I don't know. It will be difficult for her to break free of his influence, if what we just saw is any indication. Anna will likely have the best luck."

She shook her head. She didn't think that was the case at all.

"But there's still hope, right?" Carth spoke again. "Revan rejected the dark side so Bastila could too, right? We might still be able to save her?"

Anna nodded. "I'm damn well going to try." Carth gave her a small, supportive grin.

"I don't know what fate awaits us," Juhani interjected. "But I believe Bastila still has a role to play. I have no doubt she will be waiting for us on the Star Forge."

"No doubt." Jolee looked back at Anna. "I must say it's good that you stayed with us."

"There was never a chance," Anna answered hotly. "Bastila would have killed both of you without a second thought, and Force knows what would have happened when she and I returned here."

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Carth stepped forward slightly, and Anna met his worried gaze. Juhani answered him.

"Bastila tried to turn her. She failed."

He took another step forward. "You did it? I knew you would be able to get rid of that part of you."

"Let's not throw a party about it or anything," Anna complained. She could already feel heat creeping up the back of her neck.

"No, I told you. I  _told_  you that you'd have to make a choice. I . . . This was it. And you did exactly what I . . . What I'd hoped you would."

"Again. Let's not get too excited about a daily occurrence." She sighed. "She made an admittedly good case. Just . . . Not good enough."

"I don't know if anyone could have  _not_  been tempted by it." She almost jumped when he rested his hands along either side of her jaw, thumbs smoothing over her cheeks. "I-I love you. And . . . And I can't wait for this to be over."

"We've a long way to go yet," she murmured. "But you know I love you."

"For once," he said sternly, staring down at her. "Shut up."

And almost immediately his lips were on hers. Her eyes closed almost immediately on their own accord; one of his hands slid down her back as her own found rest on his shoulder and chest. She could just on the barest edge of her consciousness hear Jolee chuckling to himself, and thought that if she were to open her eyes and look to her right Canderous would be rolling his eyes.

Mission's voice was the one that cut in, effectively breaking off Anna and Carth's kiss though he refused to release her, keeping her pressed close against him. She nestled against his chest, covered in that stupid rancor-piss jacket he always wore and closed her eyes. The Star Forge still loomed heavily overhead but for once the universe owed her a moment of peace, and she was laying claim to it right then. "Get a room, will you?"

Zaalbar had one furry arm around her shoulder and looked down at her. " _That two spirits have found each other amidst such turmoil is a good omen. Does it not please you to see?_ "

Mission made a face. "Even a good omen can get a room."

"Well, I'm an old man, and I know you should take love when you find it." Jolee crossed his arms. "About time someone admitted to it, I say." He chuckled. "Can't say the Council'll be thrilled, though. Good for them. They need it sometimes."

T3 let out a series of confused-sounding chirps. HK glanced down at him. "Answer: I have no idea what they speak of, trashbin. Organic meatbags are an eternal mystery to me."

"Best you stay in the dark," Canderous replied, shaking his head and starting back towards the  _Hawk_. "Onasi, keep your tongue out of her throat."

Carth glared at his retreating back.

"If we are to catch up to Bastila," Juhani interrupted. "We should leave soon, don't you think?"

Anna nodded, finally extracting herself from Carth's arms. "We should," she said. "If we don't catch up to her soon it'll be harder to talk her down. Everyone on the  _Hawk_. Stat."

Carth and Anna brought up the rear of the group, his hand wrapping around hers and their fingers intertwining. "The ship's ready to go," he said as they followed the others. "I'm sure the Republic is here by now."

"A large scale battle should distract Malak and Bastila long enough for us to get onto the Forge." She looked up at him as they walked up the ramp, raising it behind them. "Go. Get us in the air. I'll make sure everyone's ready."

He leaned down and pressed their lips together in a quick, chaste kiss before hurrying towards the cockpit. Anna smiled to herself, closing the ramp behind them.

#

Bastila had steeled herself for confronting Revan at the Temple. She'd prepared, she'd run over everything she believed she would face. Revan's dueling style, what Revan would say, the likelihood that Revan would attempt to turn her back. The truth was that the encounter had truly shaken her faith in her new master — what Revan had said made sense. She blamed herself for Bastila's newfound power, and part of Bastila acknowledged it. Part of her still believed this was wrong; the part in the back of her head that still screamed the Jedi Code at her, that still thought she could maybe turn around and go back and beg Anna and Jolee and Juhani to help her come back —

She quashed those thoughts hard, remembering her sullenness and resent. Anna was right. The Council had put her into an impossible situation, one that they should have known she would fail at. They'd expected her to watch Revan, the former Dark Lord of the Sith — very former, apparently — and somehow not manage to fall to the dark side herself? How was that even possible? She didn't have the training of a Master but they'd expected her to manage a task only a Master could be  _trusted_  to handle. How hadn't they  _expected_  this? No, it was unequivocally their fault.

And Anna. Anna had fought her every step of the way. How could she have been so blind as to not see her true identity? The number of times she'd nearly revealed it on accident, the number of clues, her strength in the Force, the marked similarity of her _mind_  to the Sith Lord — it was practically  _obvious._ And she  _had_  used her to fight her war, to battle the Dark Lord she now served. Bastila shook her head as she pulled into the Star Forge. No, she had been a fool to follow the Jedi for so long.

She quickly moved through the Forge, the factory in full operation with the incoming threat of the Republic fleet. Bastila made her way to the observation deck, finding Malak staring out towards the tiny planet. She fell to a knee behind him, swallowing heavily.

"Is she dead?"

"No, my lord. I was . . . unable to best her at the Temple. I am sorry. It will not happen again."

"No," Malak replied, turning. "It will not. If she makes it to the Star Forge with the Republic fleet, she will seek  _you_  out. Then, you will be able to draw on the power of the Star Forge to defeat her. And if you do not . . ."

"Yes, my Lord." She carefully climbed to her feet.

"Meanwhile, prepare to use your meditation against the Republic when they arrive. This is a day that will live in history — the day where the Republic falls, and we destroy my former master!"

She bowed low, and started back towards the map that showed the area around the Star Forge. Malak watched her retreat, and then headed towards the walkway overlooking the main factory.

He would need to make sure the factory was prepared, now that the trap was set.


	52. Chapter 52

"Hope your guys get here soon."

Carth nodded, glancing over at Canderous. The  _Hawk_  hovered in space, staring at the Sith fleet currently arranging itself into battle formation. Hyperspace coordinates for a short jump were already ready at a moment's notice, just in case the Sith fleet decided to take offense to their watching.

Something chimed, and suddenly they were surrounded. Carth swore and swung the ship out of the way as the Republic fleet materialized around them, already set in a proper battle formation. A series of short-range fighters swooped over the window, and something chirped.

"Carth!" Mission yelled. "We're getting hailed!"

"Coming," he shouted back, rocketing out of his ship. "Ordo, you —"

"Don't worry, I'll keep us from crashing into a ship." Canderous waved his hand.

Carth sprinted for the main hold, glancing around at the collected crew. Only Mission and Zaalbar were at the table, T3 next to Mission and HK hovering near the door to the tiny storage room. He glanced in, scanning Anna's worried face. The ship's three Jedi had taken over the cramped room for quick meditation before they hit the Forge, and he suspected that Anna hadn't looked so worried on the beach because she'd been too focused. But now, when she was lost in whatever she was lost in she truly looked tired and maybe a little scared, and almost as if she'd aged ten years in the short time they'd been in the Temple.

He swallowed and turned his attention to the console to accept the call, skimming the source and stepping back so the holographic scanner would see him. A shimmering hologram appeared over the table of a female admiral, hands folded behind her back and forehead furrowed slightly. :: _This is Admiral Forn Dodonna to the_ Ebon Hawk _. Do you read us?_ Ebon Hawk,  _this is—_ ::

"Admiral Dodonna, this is Commander Carth Onasi. We are receiving your transmission." He saluted, and she nodded.

:: _Carth. It's good to see that you're alive. We received your emergency message about the disruptor shield - I suspect it is taken care of?_ ::

"We made it off that planet, so yes."

:: _Good_.:: She shook her head. :: _The Sith fleet has already begun to assault the ships moving in to attack. We've had to pull the capital ships back. How did the Sith manage to build something of this size?_ ::

"It wasn't the Sith, Admiral. There's no time to explain it, but that station predates the Republic."

:: _That old? It's almost criminal to destroy it, but we have no other choice._ :: She shook her head. :: _Perhaps we should withdraw and try again after we have the opportunity to parcel down the Sith fleet._ ::

"No! We don't have that sort of time. The Star Forge is a factory of infinite power. It's been churning out the caps, snubs, and droids that are powering the war effort. If you withdraw now, you'll never get another chance. If you don't destroy it now there will just be an unending wave of reinforcements."

She sighed, resigned. :: _Then it's as we feared, and we have no choice. But it will not be easy. The Sith are blocking our routes to the Star Forge — I can't even get our capital ships into position. The Sith fleet is too well organized. It's like they're —_ :: She cut off for a second, yelling several orders, then rubbed her forehead. :: _We just lost one of the capital ships. They can counter our every move._ ::

"That would be Bastila." Carth hadn't noticed Anna stepping next to him, back to looking like her usual self. "She's fallen to the dark side, and Malak is likely exploiting her battle meditation to assist the Sith fleet. She is somewhere on that station now."

Dodonna swore vehemently, then looked over her shoulder and stepped to the side. Anna drew a sharp breath as a small, green Jedi stepped next to the Admiral. "Master Vandar. I thought you had —"

:: _As you can see, I have not_ ,:: Vandar replied quickly. :: _I have brought a number of Jedi Knights from Coruscant to join the fleet. If Bastila is using her power to augment the Sith then they are invincible. Our only hope is to stop her._ ::

Anna nodded wordlessly, her mouth drawing into a thin line.

:: _How do we do that if she's on the space station?_ :: Dodonna asked. :: _Especially with things looking the way they are?_ ::

"We create a distraction and attempt to slip small fighters and transports through the Sith lines," Anna said. "Bastila will need to focus on capital ship maneuvers if a large fleet movement occurs. Master Vandar, if you send a small squad of Jedi through, they may be able to make it without attracting much notice."

:: _You are asking us to risk the fleet to —_ ::

"They'll need maybe ten minutes. Less, if they have a good pilot. How many cap ships does the Republic have here?"

Dodonna frowned, looking up. :: _Apart from all of them? Twelve. Eleven, now._ ::

"If you shift a few of them with their auxillary support ships — say five capital ships — out of position, as if you're attempting to flank, it will distract her enough to allow a  _very_  small group of transports through."

Vandar studied her closely for a moment, then looked up at Dodonna. :: _She_ is _correct_ ,:: he said. :: _A small diversion will allow small ships through. All that is needed is a few minutes, and the capital ships can be moved back into position. After that, we will merely need to keep the Sith fleet occupied while the Jedi seek out Bastila. That will allow the capital ships to move in for a final assault on the Star Forge. Am I correct, Padawan?_ ::

Anna nodded. "Most likely."

:: _After all you've done, I hate to ask—_ :: Dodonna turned back to them.

"We're going," Anna said, her tone not leaving room for argument from anyone. "We're going to see this through to the end. And if I can find and stop Bastila I will." She ducked her head slightly, and Carth barely heard her add, "This is my mess anyway."

:: _We will begin the movement now. I hope this works._ :: Dodonna stepped off the pad, and Vandar quietly nodded.

:: _And may the Force be with you._ ::

"Carth, get in the cockpit," Anna started ordering before the holograms had even fully dispersed. "Everyone else, strap in. Juhani, Mission, Zaalbar, you'll keep T3 back with the ship. The rest of us will go in. You need to be ready if we need help, all right?" The trio nodded. "T3, keep the ship ready to fly. All right. Strap in."

She turned and hurried after Carth, passing Canderous in the hallway on his way to the gun turret. One of Carth's hands was already on the console, the other reaching over his shoulder to strap himself into his seat. "You should be strapped in."

"I can't be. I have to be right here."

He grinned. "All right. We'll fly as soon as they give the order."

Anna gripped the back of his seat, looking out the window. The comm suddenly crackled. ::Hawk, _you are clear. Begin infiltration run._ ::

"Here we go."

A group of smaller ships shot over them and Carth pushed the ship after them, the  _Hawk_  shooting off. A few Sith snub fighters headed towards them. "Got incoming, Ordo."

:: _I see 'em._ ::

A blast from a larger ship took out a pair of ships, and the  _Hawk_  rocked. Anna grimaced and clenched Carth's seat, ignoring the open copilot's chair. Something twitched in the back of her mind, and Anna swore.

"Carth, we need more speed."

"I'm pushing her as hard as I can, Anna." He swung around a Sith fighter, then cut dangerously close to the bridge of a Sith capital ship. The blast from the Sith capital ship destroyed several Sith fighters that had been following them.

"She knows we're coming —  _I'm_  coming — so she'll move her attention back over here. Carth, we need  _more speed_."

"I can push the engines but we're risking a burnout."

"Then we need to risk it." She lurched as the ship rode close to an explosion, looking up as one of Carth's hands hesitated over the controls. Anna put her hands on either side of his head, closing her eyes. "Carth, you need to focus."

If Bastila was starting to turn her attention to the Jedi trying to get on board the Star Forge, this would be a short journey for everyone. She needed to make sure that Carth wasn't going to falter so at least  _one_  team would make it through. Anna massaged his temples with her fingers, focusing on shielding him. She'd be able to fight Bastila's influence, but he likely wouldn't.

Carth drew a deep breath, pressing forward on the console. The ship shot off. "If this doesn't work," he said quietly, steering the ship around a Sith fighter. Canderous shot it down. "I love you."

Anna hummed, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. "I love you too, flyboy."

Carth smiled, and then spun the ship around another fighter and directly towards a small black slit in the side of the Star Forge as guns surrounding the landing pads began to fire at them. He swore and jerked the ship to the side, Anna staying upright primarily by her own ability to balance. T3 screeched from the main hold, followed by a shriek of metal on metal as he obviously dug into the steel. "Hang on," Carth said, breezing the ship along another blast.

"When did you get this good at flying?" she asked, making sure to keep his focus on what he was doing so that Bastila wouldn't affect him, just in case she had kept her attention on them. She was sure that Bastila had still kept her attention marginally on them — after all, she would know that Anna, at least, was close by.

"I've done this a couple times, sweetheart."

Carth managed to slide the  _Hawk_  past the sensors and guns, sliding it into a hangar bay. He sat back with a sigh, and Anna let her hands fall to his shoulders.

"What were you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Making sure Bastila didn't use her meditation on you."

"Was she trying?"

"I thought so. She may not have been." Anna sighed, rubbing his shoulders. "Either way, we're here. You ready?"

Carth knocked his fist into his breastplate. "Yes I am."

"Come on." Anna turned, throwing her outer robe over the copilot's chair. Carth stood, leaving the ship's engines running, and started after her. As they started out of the cockpit he rested his hand on her back, trailing his hand down to pat her rear. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye, then stopped and grabbed his breastplate.

"You be careful," he murmured.

"I'll be fine," she replied. " _You_  be careful."

"But—"

"But  _nothing._ I love you. That should be all that matters." She stood on her toes to kiss him, then stepped back. "Also, if you do something stupid, I'll kill you."

He chuckled and kissed her, then replaced his hand and guided her to the main hold. "That goes double for you."

"I'd like to see you try, Onasi." As they headed in they broke a suitable distance apart, and Anna nodded. "All right, if you're coming, let's go," she shouted, heading for the ramp.

#

The man he'd put in charge of overseeing the Star Forge had been a strong Jedi that Revan herself had broken to their service, turning him into a fanatically loyal convert. And it was him who needed to bear the bad news to Malak — the Jedi controlled one of the hangars, and one of the Jedi was not someone he'd wanted to see.

Malak was overlooking the main factory, hands folded casually behind his back. The Sith stumbled to a halt, bowing to his back.

"Why have you disturbed me?" Malak asked, turning to face him.

"I have news, Lord Malak. About the Jedi."

"Ah, yes." Malak turned back to the broad window. "Did the Star Forge's droids perform adequately?"

"N-no, my lord," he stuttered. "The Jedi hold one of the hanger bays. The droids could not stop them. A team is heading in this direction as we speak."

Malak's eyes narrowed slightly. "Strange. I did not think any among the Order could survive an attack by an army of the Star Forge's battle droids."

"M-my lord. It's Revan. She is here, leading a small team through the Star Forge."

"Ah. In that case." He nodded, eyes keeping track of production. "That would explain why the droids failed. Who does she have with her?"

"Uh . . ." He thought. He hadn't gotten any good information on the team ripping their way through the bottom level of the Forge. "An old man, a Mandalorian, a combat droid, and another human male."

Malak nodded. "Very well. Send out all available troops. The apprentices as well."

He blinked slightly. "Do you believe they can stop Revan, Lord Malak?"

"Of course not," he scoffed, starting towards the elevator. "But they will slow her down, and buy me the time I need to prepare the Star Forge's defenses. I am curious to see their true extent, and one as powerful as my old master will make an interesting test subject. And send a group to seize the ship they arrived in. If we do not leave this station, neither will the Jedi." With that, he turned on his heel and stalked back into the elevator. The man sighed, regretted leaving the Jedi for a moment, and walked off to carry out his lord's orders.

#

Three Jedi had stayed with the remainder of the  _Hawk_  crew. Zaalbar and Mission hung mostly up near the top of the  _Ebon Hawk_ 's ramp, T3 keeping the ship ready to fly as soon as the others came back. The Jedi left in the hangar had tried to talk to Juhani initially, about how the fairly famous Bastila had apparently fallen, but Juhani had been incredibly loathe to talk about it and they'd soon stopped trying.

That was when the doors to the hangar slipped open to admit a collection of Sith, some wearing the trademark dark robes of fallen Jedi. They paused for a second as Juhani leapt to her feet from her perch on the base of the ramp and the other three Jedi swung around. Lightsabers hissed to life and the Sith answered, red blades flaring up as they rushed forward.

Mission dropped to the floor of the ramp, opening fire in the direction of the Sith in the back. Zaalbar hovered behind the wall by the entrance, sending neon-green bolts from his bowcaster towards them. "The red ones have grenades," Mission yelled at him when a sticky mess exploded around one of the Jedi, pinning her in place. Juhani used the Force to leap over her opponent, running through the Sith adept threatening the stuck Jedi, then swinging her blade over her back to deflect a bolt to the soldier who'd fired it. He fell.

Mission's head swung towards the other door as it zipped open, and a smaller team ran through — obviously an infiltration team intending to take over the ship. She started to fire, only to have the Sith in front deflect the blasts with their lightsabers. Zaalbar turned his bowcaster towards the approaching group and fired, then took a half step back when one of the deflected bolts slammed into his arm.

With an angry howl Zaalbar ducked back behind the door, and Mission swallowed. "You all right?"

" _Fine."_  He started to draw his vibroswords, and Mission gland back again.

"They have lightsabers."

" _They will get on the ship._ " His jaw was set. " _We will need to hold them off. I will block the ramp._ "

Mission opened her mouth to reply when there was the sudden blast of a ship anti-personnel gun. An angry red blast shot towards the infiltration team from the  _Hawk_ , echoing through the hangar as it slammed into the ground in front of the leading dark Jedi. He staggered and fell, shrapnel shredding through his body with the force of the blast, and the others were knocked off their feet. Mission used the distraction to fire rapidly, felling two troopers who looked slightly stunned by the blast. Zaalbar took up his bowcaster again, reopening fire and killing two more as the cannon fired once more, this time towards the other side where the Jedi were still valiantly fighting. The round slammed into the ground behind the grenadiers and regular troopers dug in behind the embattled dark Jedi. It knocked everyone back slightly, giving the Jedi the time they needed to dispatch the stunned attackers and finish off the footsoldiers behind them.

Juhani cleared the room in a leap as the cannon swung back to the infiltration team, slashing through one of the troopers in a flash before turning her blade to parry one of the encroaching Sith. Two of the other Jedi echoed Juhani's leap, the third sprinting and bringing his lightsaber down on one of the Sith's heads when he turned to counter one of the guardians.

Between the Jedi, the anti-personnel cannon and the two on the ramp of the ship, the secondary infiltration team did not last very long. When the last man fell the Jedi glanced at one another and quickly deactivated their blades.

"We need to stay alert," Juhani said quietly, starting back towards the ship's ramp. "Mission, who was on the gun?"

She shook her head. "The only other thing on the ship is T3 and Anna's gizka. But I don't think X'lor would be firing any guns."

"Go find out."

Mission nodded and hurried back in, and Juhani spotted the burn on Zaalbar's arm. With a small smile she held out her hand. "May I?" He groaned and nodded back.

Meanwhile, Mission headed into the communications room near the cockpit. T3 had plugged himself in here after they'd landed, capable of monitoring all the  _Hawk_ 's systems without moving. He spun his head towards her as she entered and chirped happily. "T3, were you just firing the guns?" she asked. He replied with an affirmative, happy chirp. She grinned and patted his head. "Good. Keep it up, okay? They should be back soon."

He replied with another happy chirp and turn his head back towards the panel.

#

"Check that computer to see if you can take down the defenses," Anna ordered, waving Jolee over to the terminal as she opened the other.

"Got the turrets over here," Jolee replied as Anna waved the others towards the doors to keep watch. "I'll see if there's more."

"Can you set them to target friendlies?" she asked. "Perhaps we can keep any Sith coming to the disturbance off our backs."

"I'll see what I can do."

Anna frowned at her computer, the screen spitting code at her. She pressed a few buttons, then leapt back when the computer terminal began to shake.

"What did you do?" Canderous asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Hell if I know," Anna replied, frowning. She kicked the computer. "Stop it!"

"Yeah, that's going to work," Carth said. Anna glared at him, then sidestepped when the crate next to her rocked, flashed, and then stilled.

"What the hell?" She paced towards it, wrenching the top of the crate open to find a carefully folded set of robes, topped with what looked like some sort of leather chestplate. She pulled it out, frowning at it.

"Now where did  _that_ come from?" Canderous barked.

"Search me." She ran her hand over it. It felt . . .  _different._  Like there was some sort of current, or connection to the Force, in them. "Magic?" she replied sarcastically.

Canderous snorted. "Any good?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think so." Without waiting she untied the top of her robe, letting it slide off her shoulders as she pulled the Star Forge robe on over her undershirt and armor vest, and laced the leather chestplate over it. It felt stiff, but it felt . . . _normal._ Like it belonged on her, like it was something she had worn for years and then just left somewhere else for a while. She looked up, seeing Carth staring at her, and cleared her throat. "Yes?"

"I thought you didn't wear armor," he said, instead of what he wanted to say - that she looked more like Revan in that moment, but the Revan that had saved the Republic from the Mandalorians.

"I . . .  _don't_." She looked down. "Something just feels different."

"Well," Jolee said with barely a glance. "While you were playing dress-up, I got the defenses shut down and the elevator open. Should we not stand around wait for Malak to realize that, maybe?"

"Good idea." Anna started towards the door. HK stopped her.

"Warning: Master, I sense more meatbags incoming. Shall we deal with them?"

She glanced at Jolee and nodded. "All right. We just need to get to that elevator."

#

The group drew to a halt in front of a set of heavy Star Forge doors after cutting down a trio of dark Jedi, the day of fighting (and more for the two Jedi) already taking their toll. Anna and Jolee both drew a sharp breath, and Carth swallowed as he cast a worried look between the two. HK's head spun back to take a look at them, and Canderous merely huffed and checked his cannon.

"What?" he asked.

"Bastila," Jolee answered for both of them.

"Bastila?" Carth repeated.

"Yeah," Anna said breathlessly, nodding. "Well, with that in mind . . . we ready?"

"Open the door."

At Jolee's reply, Anna did. Carth hefted his blaster and prepared, standing back. Canderous stepped after them, letting HK take the spot in the back next to Carth. Anna and Jolee stepped onto the ramp.

The room was bathed in an eerie green light, coming from a map showing the immediate space around the Forge. Carth swallowed as another small speck exploded – the Republic was getting its collective ass kicked. The figure kneeling in front of the map explained why.

The light played over the dark robes Bastila wore, similar to the ones Anna had worn undercover on Korriban. If Carth didn't know better it would have looked like she was warping the space around herself, giving the air a barely perceptible shimmer –

Anna took another step forward into the room, gripping the hilt of her lightsabers. The sound of her boots on the steel walkway seemed to catch Bastila's attention and the woman stood and turned, then locked her eyes on Anna. Seconds later, she was drawing to a halt halfway down the walkway.

"Revan." Her voice was even, flat . . . cold. The hem of Anna's robes twitched when she shuddered. Carth swallowed –  _that_ wasn't Bastila. "I knew you'd come for me."

Anna's reply was just as even. "This isn't you, Bastila. Let me help you."

"It isn't too late, Bastila," Jolee added.

"You're wasting your time," she scoffed. The flare in her eyes was terrifying. "You are no better than the rest of the Jedi – weak, afraid. How you were  _ever_  Master of the Sith, I don't know. But here on the Star Forge the power of the dark side is strongest – and this time you will  _not_  defeat me!"

Anna pulled a shield around herself as Bastila pushed her hand out. Jolee and Canderous suddenly flew back, bowling Carth and HK backwards, and the door slammed shut. Anna stared at it, fighting down the small wave of panic that pressed at the back of her throat.

"We will face each other alone, as the Temple should have been," Bastila hissed, lightsaber igniting. Her head jerked back around, her thumb igniting her silver left-hand lightsaber in reply. "You are certain to fall without the old man, the Mandalorian, and your lover to save you."

"We'll see about that." Anna hefted her lightsaber and threw.

Bastila was ready for it, ducking as it boomeranged back. Anna hardly waited to have it back in hand before she struck.

It only took seconds for Anna to find an advantage. Bastila had spent a week and a half being tortured – she still looked like hell, as Anna noted when she parried her lightsaber off – and a week and a half being trained as a Sith. But when it came to lightsaber combat the Force was all well and good, but practice made perfect.

But Anna forced her back against the map, refusing to take the several hundred openings that Bastila gave her, any one of which was capable of killing her instantly. Bastila moved aside, keeping herself from being pinned against the map, and pressed her attack. Anna shot onto the defensive as Bastila tried to work her back to a long, black drop off the platform.

She had long dropped the grace that Bastila used previously in duels, fighting with the brutal desperation of the Sith in the Temple of the Ancients or on the Forge. A small part of Anna began to express doubt about her plan to redeem her, but she pushed it back down as easily as she pushed Bastila's blade aside in a parry.

She made herself falter, made herself start to tire. Bastila was right. The dark side weighed on her, but she managed a nonverbal laugh. She  _was_  Revan, after all. She ate the dark side for breakfast and washed it down with the super-dark-side.

Blades locked, and Bastila pressed down on hers. Anna scowled.

"You're growing weary, I can sense it," Bastila hissed. "Your strength is faltering, the light side failing you."

"Bastila, there's one thing you're forgetting," Anna admitted. Bastila stared at her, and she lowered her voice. The woman had put herself exactly where she wanted her. "I was  _Darth Frakking Revan_."

Anna pushed her off, powering her shove with the Force. Bastila stumbled back. Anna clipped her off-hand lightsaber to her belt, knocked Bastila's 'saber aside with a strike she drew from the Force with her on-hand one, and followed the strike through to slam her elbow into the side of Bastila's jaw. Another swift hit from the back of her hand jammed her nose, and as she staggered back Anna brought her foot into Bastila's knee with a loud  _crack_. She dropped to the floor and Anna kicked her lightsaber out of the way, sending it rolling through a crack on the floor.

"This isn't possible!" Bastila croaked around her broken nose. "You . . . how . . . why can't I defeat you?"

Anna knelt next to her, gently resting one hand on Bastila's nose, knitting it back together with the Force. She figured that fixing her nose was unlikely to encourage Bastila to attempt to kill her again, since the other woman couldn't even stand. "Because, _surprise_ , Malak lied. The dark side isn't stronger." In fact, the longer she traveled with Jolee, the more she thought that the gray side was.

"Please," Bastila begged as Anna prodded her jaw, trying to push her hand away. "Please don't make me suffer. End my life quickly."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I kill you?"

"You have no other choice? I've fallen to the dark side, I'm Malak's apprentice . . . you can't let me live."

Anna tore a piece of fabric off her robe, trying to wipe blood off Bastila's face. Bastila pushed her hand away. "Reject it, Bastila."

"No . . . I'm not strong enough. I can't. I can't . . . I can't find peace in the Force. Not after this."

Anna poked her sternum. "Listen to me, Miss Bastila Shan." Bastila's tear-filled eyes finally settled on hers. She held up her fingers. "There are four main arguments you're going to make, so I'm going to cut you off before you can. One, I was redeemed, and I was Darth Frakking Revan."

"But that was a special –"

"Two. You were supposed to keep me from falling. You did. Therefore, you are not a failure."

"But at what –"

"Three. I have traveled around with you long enough to know that while you're overbearing, occasionally holier-than-thou, tend to be incredibly annoying, and are very befitting of Canderous' 'princess' pet name, you are  _not_  evil. Whatever 'evil' you think you are, that's  _my_  fault,  _not_  yours. And lastly – make a choice. Since I'm not going to kill you and you can't kill me, you have two choices. You either get to put up with me, or you get to put up with Malak. Now, call me biased, but I suspect I'm a little more likable than he is."

Bastila sighed. "In your own usual, cocky, roundabout way . . . you're right. But I cannot go with you to face Malak. I am afraid—"

"I understand. For one, you can't walk, and that's a shatter Jolee's going to need to fix. And you brilliantly locked  _him_  outside."

Bastila forced a smile. "I was going to say that, if we faced Malak together, I would be afraid his presence would overwhelm me."

Anna gave an irreverent shrug. "Yeah. That too." She stabilized Bastila's knee with the Force, then helped her sit up. "Now, I'm going to give you a job, okay? You see that clump over there? The Republic's ass is getting kicked. So shift the balance."

Bastila nodded. "When I do, you will not have long."

Anna chewed on her lip, scanning the battle. "I only need a half-hour. Perhaps less."

"I should be able to give you that much. Good luck . . . and may the Force be with you."

With a wince, she struggled to return to her meditative position. Anna rubbed her shoulder, glanced back at the still-sealed door, and started toward where she could sense Malak's presence.

She walked through an empty room full of generators, glancing at the walls as if she expected them to attack her. Judging by the Star Forge's other defenses, it was highly probable that they would. She smiled to herself, through her looming exhaustion. She could feel Bastila through their bond again, no longer a cold and dark void at the other end. Some of it lingered, a chilly night that seemed impenetrable, but it was slowly feeling more like it had before the  _Leviathan_.

Besides, Anna thought, she wasn't currently an expert but she suspected that rote torture only  _weakly_  turned a person to the dark side.

She reached a door that she recognized as one of the many Star Forge elevators and reached her hand out for the controls. In less than a second, she'd ignited her lightsabers.

Malak had somehow found two of the Jedi Vandar had sent onto the Forge, and was currently entertaining himself by choking them into oblivion. He turned as the door opened, and their eyes locked.

They stood there for what felt like an hour. He broke first, tossing his hand casually behind him and frying the two Jedi instantly. Anna raised her 'sabers, and he laughed.

"I tire of this. You have been a thorn in my side from the moment I seized the mantle of Dark Lord. I should have killed you on the _Leviathan_  when I had the chance – but this time there is no one to sacrifice themselves to save you!"

Anna scoffed. "If we'd had time to  _discuss_  it, there would have  _been_  no sacrifice. Now surrender and I'll convince the Jedi to show you mercy."

"Mercy? Stripping away your power and your identity was an act of mercy? That is nothing more than a death sentence!"

"I was saved. They can save you. Please listen to me." Anna knew it was futile. But she needed to try — she felt like she owed him that much. He'd once been Revan's — been  _her_  — closest friend, after all, and she suspected that she'd had a great hand in dragging him to the dark side with her.

"Save your preaching. I took your power and the power of this factory, surpassing your old reign by thousands! And now, my old master – the Star Forge will destroy you!"

He paced into the elevator, and it closed and clicked. A  _zap_  sounded from behind her and she turned, half-lowering her blades. Each of the strange mechanisms she had passed when walking toward the door now had a large spider-like droid, all six or so training their sensors on her.

"Well,  _shit_."

 


	53. Chapter 53

Anna rose to her feet as the elevator finally drew to a halt, stepping out of the doors. Down the long walkway stood Malak, his hands folded behind him as he watched the battle raging outside. The Republic ships had begun to get closer to them, a few capital ships moving in towards the kill. She activated her shield, the heat washing over her, and her hands tensed on her 'sabers. This was it.

She drew to a stop just at the edge of the main platform, keeping her eyes locked on his back. Her skin crawled when a small chuckle escaped his lips, and he turned.

"Well done, Revan. I was certain the droids would destroy you."

"You forget that I'm techy. Droids aren't a problem."

He chuckled again. "It is clear that you are as strong as you were. Perhaps stronger."

"Then you should consider surrendering. Because obviously if I'd been the stronger before then you have no chance to destroy me now."

She barely had time to react when she felt her feet lift off the ground. She tried to respond in the Force, but before she could found herself slamming into the far opposite wall. Her quick shield managed to protect her from the worst of the impact, though it still winded her as she collapsed down. Malak's heavy steps indicated his approach, and his lightsaber hissed to life over the footfalls.

"Once again, Revan," he said, steps slow. "We will face each other in single combat. And this time, the victor will decide more than our hierarchy."

His blade hummed as he raised it and she tucked into herself and rolled away, carrying herself onto her feet. Her lightsabers snapped into her hands and she flicked them open. As he started to turn towards her she struck out, scoring a light hit across his back.

It was a small victory, and she hurriedly moved to block his next strike. He pressed her back, then pushed forward again. Anna skidded back across the durasteel, this time letting herself collapse to the deck. As his footsteps approached she focused, bringing up a shield to protect herself from the Force and keeping him from throwing her around the room. He chuckled low, back in his false voicebox.

"I did not expect you to go down so easily, Revan. You were always more . . .  _dogged_  than this."

When he raised his lightsaber she rolled into a crouch, thrusting her on-hand 'saber up towards his chest and her other up to block a potential return strike. Malak sprung back with a speed she hadn't thought possible, swiping underneath her guard towards her head. She rolled back again, moving to her feet in a smooth motion. "I wouldn't throw in the 'spanner just yet," she replied, settling back into her low stance almost naturally.

He growled, using his superior reach to swing out at her. She ducked to the side, staying out of his reach.

"You cannot defeat me, Revan," he said, taking another step and swing. She dodged again, parrying his blade away as she did. "I know how you fight, your every move and weakness."

"I've gained a couple of tricks, you'll find." She double-parried his blade, catching his it before it would have sliced her in half. He knew her strength was her head, not her body, which was why he was coming at her with brute strength rather than skill. She dodged under his blade again, pushing forward when his overpowered swing threw him off-balance. He quickly swung back, bringing himself back on balance and blocking the strike from one blade, but the other was a lucky hit and scored deep across his ribcage.

He stuck out his hand and sent her skidding across the floor again, though this time she rolled into it to lessen the blow and managed to roll back to her feet.

Malak hadn't followed her this time, instead standing in the center of the flat lower platform, yellowed eyes watching her closely. She took a step forward, lightsabers ready. "Your resilience continues to amaze me," he said. "But for all your intelligence, you were a fool. You never saw past this station's use as a factory to its true potential!"

"Enlighten me then, if you're that clever," she retorted. She wasn't even going to comment on the fact that she had barely any memories of the Forge to begin with. "It's an object of dark side power and frankly, it's more trouble than it's worth."

Malak laughed. "You were otherwise convinced previously."

"Is your plan to talk me to death? If so, it's working."

He scowled. "Look around you, Revan."

"Your captives? Jedi from Dantooine? I saw them. I was wondering why you surrounded yourself with the dead."

"They are better company than the weak." Anna snorted. "They are not dead. Not yet, at least — but they are held in a stasis between life and death by the power of this station."

"For  _what_?"

Malak didn't answer, sufficing instead to extend his hand to one of the suspended Jedi. The trapped man suddenly withered into himself, a grotesque mockery of what had once been a human. Anna stared, partly in horror and a bit in morbid curiosity, as the sole serious wound she'd dealt Malak disappeared with barely a scar in its wake. She swallowed.

"Nice trick," she said. "But what would happen . . . if I do  _this_."

She flung both her lightsabers, sending one towards the closest suspended body and the other towards three on a nearby platform. He started towards her as soon as he saw that she was disarmed and she sprung backwards on her hands, starting up the ramp as soon as her feet touched the steel. Her lightsabers boomeranged back into her hands as she pounded up the durasteel ramp, fueling her speed with the Force, and she threw her first returning 'saber back at Malak. The second flew towards the next two trapped Jedi.

Malak replied by easily parrying it away, and she followed it with a thermal detonator. She knew it wouldn't be enough to stop him, but it might slow him down. Catching both lightsabers, she dove into a roll to avoid the blast and let the shockwave carry her back to her feet. Malak had prepared enough that the blast hadn't damaged him, but did throw him back nearly twenty feet. He jumped back to his feet, just in time to duck Anna's lightsaber as it whipped over his head towards three of the four remaining trapped Jedi on the far side of the room. Powering his leap with the Force he cleared the room, and Anna dove to the side as his lightsaber nearly crashed down onto her head. He used her distraction to throw his hand towards the last Jedi, absorbing his power and healing himself from the thermal burns. Anna swore, rolling back to her feet and falling into a deep, secure combat stance.

"About time you ceased running." Malak swung, Anna responding with a parry from both blades and a slash back from one, which he countered.

"Let's just see you heal now," she replied, the briefest flash of a feral grin crossing her face.

"Let's see you," he replied, powering his next swing with the Force and breaking through her parry. Her shield flickered and died as his lightsaber slammed into her shoulder, deflected by the shield just before her arm would have been severed. She cried out, diving to the side and reaching out through the Force, throwing him meters away. She quickly pressed her hand over the burn, numbing the pain, then flicked her shield back on.

Damn, she was  _never_  prepared for how much lightsabers  _hurt_.

She frantically parried as Malak fell on her again, beating his blade aside and trying to throw him again. He'd shielded himself as well, so the throw turned into more of a drunken stagger.

Anna took a deep breath, blinking slowly as Malak started back towards her. She was panicking. This was just one more fight, like all the others she'd been through. Three moves ahead, one foot after the other, same as always. This was no different.

She pressed forward, diving under his arm and blocking his lightsaber behind her head, pushing her other towards his back. He leapt sideways, taken aback by her sudden move, and returned with a wild swing. She arched backwards, the tip of his lightsaber skipping across her stomach. The leather ripped and the vest underneath sagged suddenly as it sliced through to her skin.

Ignoring the pain she pressed forward, pulling on the Force to dull it and to power her swing. She brought up her leg to try and kick him back but he nearly severed it, instead slicing down it from her hip to her ankle and leaving the Star Forge robe hanging limply. Anna stumbled, her leg nearly giving out as Malak pressed her back. She returned the favor, scoring a slice across his chest as she dodged his blade and swung behind his arm. Malak sprung back, and Anna adjusted her grip on her lightsabers.

_Parry-attack. Repost. Dodge. Duck under his arm, parry, riposte, counter-parry._

She pushed forward and parried his attack with her on-hand, trying to slip behind his guard to thrust through his chest. He parried both blades and countered, and she answered with a return from her on-hand blade, dodging his return strike and diving underneath his arm. It forced him to turn, swinging into her parry and return strike.

She let herself stagger back, appearing to falter. He struck, each powered with the Force and his sheer hatred of her. She dodged, trying to stay out of reach and parrying if she couldn't get out of the way. They didn't have time for her to wear him down, but . . .

_Three moves ahead. Parry that attack with one blade, go for his wrist. Parry the resulting counter. Beat and go. Duck and parry behind back. Feint for his torso._

The duck turned into a roll when her feint failed miserably, Malak merely stepping out of her limited reach. Anna grit her teeth and quickly recalculated.  _Feint high. Aim for his head. Duck and roll. Do not engage his blade. Dodge, return attack, be parried, attack with off hand blade around back. Spin and parry, flurry from the left, prepare to be_ –

She scored a hit on his arm, slashing across his bicep and forearm. Malak was hardly fazed, even though her lightsaber had taken a large chunk of skin with it. He hissed, breaking her parry as he swung down hard onto her already wounded shoulder. The flickering shield protecting her collapsed, and she danced ong enough to switch it back on before lunging forward with a vengeance.

Her bold move surprised him again and Anna scored across his torso almost immediately afterwards, mimicking the wound he'd given her on the  _Leviathan_. That got a response, throwing him off balance for a brief second before he counter-attacked. She leapt back, stumbling on her wounded leg and turning it more into an awkward roll than an actual dodge.

"Surrender is a perfectly valid option," Malak said, as they warily circled each other with blades tensely lowered. Anna limped on her leg, each move aggravating the numbness and pain that shot through her with each step.

"That word isn't in my dictionary," she retorted.

"Once it was. I see you truly have lost your memories then." He made a halfhearted attempt to strike her, and she parried it.

"I wasn't aware you needed any more confirmation. And besides, it might be better for you to surrender. After all —" She interrupted with her own strike, which was easily parried. She turned slightly, shielding the pouch with her grenades from his view as she wrapped her fingers around a thermal detonator. "You had to use a blaster cannon designed for ship-to-ship combat last time, and even  _that_  didn't work. Actually, after that absolutely stunning failure, I think surrender might be your best option."

His eyes narrowed around his jaw. "You truly believe you're different than before."

Her eyes narrowed as well. "I am."

"Don't lie. You can't change. Even if your memories never return just the  _thought_  of what you have done in the past, all those horrific things you swore you'd never do . . . why, it's downright disgusting you haven't turned a blaster on yourself yet."

Anna frowned, her knuckles turning white on her lightsaber. "Perhaps that I remember nothing is my saving grace, then."

"I once respected your power.  _Envied_  your power. We were both realists once, something that scared the Jedi more than the dark side. But you grew too complacent, too comfortable in a slow military campaign. And now look at you! A pawn, an expendable plaything to be used and disposed of on a whim — no better than a puppet on a string!" There was something behind that statement. Something in his voice, maybe in his eyes.

"I may be," she replied. "But you are exactly the same as you were then. A rat in a cage."

The lines around his eyes deepened in what she could only describe as a resigned frown.

Her words had definitely shaken him, but what  _really_  did it was her face — she wore  _that_ look. The one that wasn't quite a smirk, but wasn't yet a smile. The serene smile that had once endeared her to him, then struck a great and terrible fear deep into Malak's heart once they'd fallen. It was both irrational, like a fear of the dark and at the same time all  _too_ rational, like fear for one's life. The look he knew she'd worn behind her mask when he'd challenged her, leading to the loss of his jaw; the look she'd made when she'd faced Mandalore; the same look she'd had when . . .

"I am done playing," she said forcefully.

"As am I."

He started to step forward but found himself interrupted by a small ball rolling towards him, his opponent sprinting as fast as possible in the opposite direction. He pulled on the Force, leaping away from the blast zone of the detonator. It exploded, ripping the elevated walkway they'd been on apart.

On the other side of the room there was a yelp of surprise, and Malak rolled to his feet in time to watch as she nearly rolled off the platform.

He smirked, igniting his lightsaber as he strode towards her. He could finish this here. Now.

Anna spotted him coming as she snapped her sole free lightsaber back to her belt. She moved to grip the bar with her hands instead of trying to lever herself up with her arms, kicking her feet to try to get up some momentum. She tracked Malak through the vibrations of his heavy steps, kicking her feet more to swing herself under the platform. "Thank you," Malak said. "For making this so much more —"

Anna reached the apex of her swing and used the force of her momentum to swing up and over Malak's head and roll to her feet right behind him. He started to turn, and Anna forced herself to balance on her injured leg and swing her other foot into his hand. His lightsaber flew out of his hand, deactivating just before it disappeared off the ledge she'd been hanging from seconds earlier. Grabbing him with the Force she threw him, sending him skidding back into the middle of the main platform.

Unlike Malak, she didn't take her time. She quickly shuffled towards him, her leg sending jolts of pain into her back with each step as her lightsabers sprung back to her hands. He recovered and kicked her back, sending her sprawling to the deck. She fell limp.

Producing a spare lightsaber from his boot, he started towards her again. How he'd kicked her nearly across the room he wasn't sure, but as he limped towards her he made up his mind. This time he would take no chances. He would not hold to his original plan of capturing her, then her companions, then torturing each one slowly in front of her to pay her back for the resistance she'd given him. He limped faster, desire to see her dead fueling his steps.

As he brought his lightsaber up, he felt something grasp his wrist and looked down. Her gray eyes were locked on his, hand extended. She tugged through the Force-grip she had on his wrist, throwing him off balance as she kicked up with her feet and threw him onto his back using the momentum of his last step and a liberal application of the Force. Then she found herself straddling him, her lightsabers driven straight through his chest and stomach.

Anna panted, deactivating her weapons and rolling away from him to collapse onto her back. Waves of memory were suddenly flooding her — nothing important, but of him, their combined training, some of the Wars, some things tugging at her heart as she realized that once she'd cared for him more than the Jedi had desired-

"This should not be possible," he said quietly, not making an effort to move. Anna could feel him beginning to fade, and managed to roll to her knees.

"Alek," she whispered, and he hissed at the name he'd long stopped using but that Revan had always refused to stop calling him.

"What if our positions had been reversed, if fate had led to me be captured?" he asked quietly. "Could I have done what you have?"

"Yes." Despite his quickly disappearing senses, he felt her hand wrap around his. "And you still can. It isn't too late. I'm sorry I started you towards this."

She was begging him to return. He shook his head as his eyes started to dim, locking on her face.

"Listen," he coughed. "I know what you meant. I know now your plan."

"Alek, it doesn't matter."

" _Listen_." She jumped when his other hand weakly gripped the side of her face, his fading yellow eyes meeting hers. "The Mandalorians . . . you, me . . . pawns." Her face began to disappear, and he focused on the warmth of her skin under his hand. "You had a plan. I ruined it."

"This is what happened to us?" she asked quickly, feeling him growing weaker. "Out past the Rim? Tell me,  _please_!"

"A bigger threat, something that you knew would . . . could destroy . . . destroy everything we'd wanted to save . . ."

She ducked her head, closing her eyes as she felt the life he'd been trying to hang onto leave and his hand slid away from her face to fall limp to the floor. She sat in silence, pain exploding through her with the trauma she'd endured in the fight, the temporary fixes she'd done with the Force coming undone through her exhaustion until the pain was almost unbearable.

For some reason it felt  _right_ , perhaps, to lay here and let the Forge be destroyed around them. She'd done what she'd needed to, after all, everything she'd worked towards for months.

But Carth . . . Carth was waiting for her. Bastila would need help, her ordeal far from over. Mission was still a kid, and they still _needed her_. And the message that Malak had gasped out with his last breath seemed important —  _too_ important to be ignored. Important enough that he'd thrown away his last chance for redemption to tell her something she couldn't remember.

She pulled away, trying to stand on her injured leg but it gave out underneath her before she'd made it a step.

Halfway down the walkway she collapsed, her exhausted body unable to move another millimeter. She let her head fall to the cold steel with a quiet sigh, her eyes slipping closed.

She must have another five minutes to make it to the  _Hawk_ , at least. She could close her eyes for a few moments . . .

#

Carth kicked the door, resulting in little more than a yelp and a few hops. Jolee snickered. HK barely looked over from where he was pacing on the flat, square walkway in front of the door, and Canderous snorted.

"This isn't  _funny_ ," Carth snapped. "Bastila's a Sith. She could kill her!"

"Bah. Anna'll talk her out of it." Jolee shrugged.

"But then Anna'll go on.  _Alone_. She can't face Malak alone! He's three times bigger than her!"

"So's Canderous."

"Yeah, but Canderous can't force-choke people from across the room." Canderous chuckled.

"These doors are so damned thick," Jolee muttered to himself, ear pressed against the steel. "Can't hear a thing."

"Is it just an electrical malfunction?" Carth pulled at the electronic panel next to the door and studied the wires.

"I dunno what she did to it. It might not open until she lets it."

"Well, we have to try." Carth pulled at a wire and tried to cross it over another and the resulting shock sent him flying several feet back to the walkway. With a head-shake, Canderous helped him to his feet.

"Try another one," Jolee said, quietly laughing to himself.

"She's going to need our help, old man," Carth forced out as he steadied himself, heading back over to the panel.

Jolee shook his head. "She has to face Malak alone. Even if we could get through, we'd be stopped another way. That's the way it works."

"It shouldn't."

"I'll let you argue with the Force, youngin'. I'm old enough to know it doesn't get you anywhere."

"We don't have time for this shit." Canderous hefted his blaster, aiming for the open panel. Jolee grabbed the collar of Carth's armor and drug him back.

"No, don't –" Carth started. Canderous fired.

Miraculously it worked, and the door creaked and slid open. Carth glanced at Canderous, stewing. "I'm never going to live that down."

"Nope."

They stepped through the door, hurrying towards the crumpled figure they saw by the map.

Bastila's face was streaked in blood and tears, her leg twisted to the side at an abnormal angle and an enormous bruise growing along her jawline to join those that had already marked her pale skin. Her hands were folded in front of her calmly. "She went ahead," she said as they approached her. "The Sith line is broken. I could only give her a half-hour of time."

 _Sithspit, has it been that long?_  Carth and Jolee traded a look.

"Canderous, we'll get her back to the  _Hawk_ ," Jolee said. "I'll take a look at her. Carth, get Anna." Jolee put his hand on her shoulder, and Bastila winced away. "Can you continue meditating on the way?"

"Go on and get her. Anna shattered my leg. I can't walk." Bastila had yet to open her eyes, but her voice had remained its flat calm. Jolee sighed.

"Canderous."

"I've got her." Canderous moved his blaster and pulled Bastila up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. She yelped. "Come on, old man."

"Go through there," Bastila directed as they sprinted out the main door. Carth nodded towards HK.

"Come on."

They ran into the next room, full of broken and scattered droid parts. Those that weren't crushed in on themselves in the center of the room had been cleanly severed by a lightsaber. The curved walkway led to an elevator, and Carth slammed his hand into the controls and stepped in. HK was silent.

The elevator opened to another door.

There was a dark form on the flat platform ahead of them, in front of a pile of twisted and buckled metal, and small pile of brown and white in the middle of the walkway just ahead. Eschewing all semblance of caution, Carth sprinted forward with HK stalking at his heels.

"Query," HK started as Carth dropped next to Anna.

"Go check Malak." He waved the droid off and grazed a hand over her forehead. His fingers slid towards her neck for her pulse, and she stirred. "Anna," he said, grabbing her hand. "We have to leave. The cap ships are going to blow this up any second."

"Good." Her voice was a whisper, her head barely lifting to see who it was. Carth looked up as HK returned.

"Observation: Congratulations at defeating your meatbag apprentice, master," HK reported.

"Are you injured?" Carth asked, ignoring the droid. Anna half-shook her head – a blatant lie, as he could see at least three lightsaber scores from where he was kneeling.

"N-no. . ."

Carth gently pressed his fingers to her neck, finding her pulse. "She's in shock." He looked up at HK. "You cover us."

"Statement: With pleasure, meatbag."

"Come on, gorgeous." He slid one arm behind her back, the other under her legs, and easily lifted her off the ground. "Let's get out of here."

#

After reaching the  _Hawk_ , Canderous dropped Bastila down in the medbay, where Jolee immediately started to examine her. Mission hovered in the doorway as he worked on doing small twitchy things with the bones, stabbing the woman's leg with local anesthetic before he did.

Canderous tapped his foot impatiently, glancing at Juhani and Zaalbar. The Wookiee was adjusting part of his bowcaster and Juhani was on full alert. Three Jedi hung near the side of the ramp, leaning back on it and talking quietly. Despite their apparent distraction he could tell they were tense, keeping an eye on both entrances to the hangar bay just in case.

He was sure the several piles of dead Sith had something to do with that tension.

Several Jedi ran and limped back into the hangar, spotting the ship and heading over. "The Republic won't wait forever to blow this thing," one of them said, holding a hand over a wound on his side. "We've got to get out of here."

Canderous raised his hand. "Look. You can hitch a ride, but we're waiting for my boss."

Several weeks ago he would have flown off and left them there. Canderous mulled it over as just one more strange thing that had changed about him.

He'd hardly had a chance to mull further when an elevator opened and Juhani spoke.

"Commander! Is she all right?"

Carth sprinted towards them with HK close behind, Anna collapsed in the pilot's arms with her face buried against his chest. "What the hell's wrong with her?"

"She's in shock. Zaalbar!" The Wookiee took Anna from him. "We've got to get going. This thing's going to blow any second." Carth sprinted up the ramp towards the cockpit, brushing through the crowded hold. Canderous pushed Juhani, HK and Zaalbar in front of him, punching the ramp controls as the ship lifted off the platform. Something fell right as it closed, slamming into the top of the ship.

Zaalbar and Juhani hurried Anna to the medbay, where Jolee was finishing up with Bastila. "Oh, sithspit," Jolee said. Bastila moved, suddenly very interested in the side of the med bay. "Juhani, Mission, go find Bastila some non-Sith clothes. And bring back one of Anna's sets. These look shot." He shooed them out, motioning for Zaalbar to set her down on the medbay bed.

Mission and Juhani helped Bastila down the hallway, avoiding the main hold. Jolee pushed Zaalbar out of the med bay and slammed the door closed as the ship shuddered.

:: _Forge just exploded_ ,:: Carth said over the intercom. The ship rocked. :: _It's going to be bumpy_.:


	54. Chapter 54

"Snap out of it, missy."

Anna blinked, clearing her vision. It looked like . . . she pushed herself up. "How did I get back to the  _Hawk_?"

"Carth and HK brought you off the Forge." Jolee pushed her back down and rubbed something on her shoulder. She yelped.

A few seconds later her sluggish head registered that Jolee had been forced to remove her robes and armor again, leaving her in her undergarments. Jolee shook his head as she flushed slightly and rubbed some salve over a thick black scar crossing her stomach. "Stop it. I've seen you in your skivvies before. A lot more than I should have to — you really need to stop diving in front of blasters and lightsabers. T3 might be able to repair everything, but I doubt it."

"Is everyone –"

"Yes. Carth is landing us as we speak."

"What about Bastila?"

"She'll heal. Slowly, but she'll heal. She's with Juhani and Mission." Jolee put his hand on her shoulder. She winced, but felt the pain numb. "The Forge is destroyed, Malak is dead, the Sith have retreated."

Anna pushed herself up. Jolee grabbed her arm and injected her with a painkiller. She winced again. "Are there any _real_  clothes in here for me?"

Jolee pointed to the counter. "Mission brought a spare set for you."

Anna carefully pulled them on with Jolee's help, the soft cloth settling in a familiar pattern. "So just the couple of nicks?"

"Along with several fractured ribs and nearly getting your arm and leg cut off, yes, just the 'couple of nicks.'" Jolee handed her a sling. "I'd move very carefully the next few days."

"Yeah. You know how that works."

"Damn kids."

Anna palmed the door open and limped into the main hold, pain from her leg cutting through her even with the painkillers. Almost immediately, something large and furry pulled her against him. "Whoa . . . Big Z, I'm glad to see you, too."

He rubbed her head gently as the ship settled down and ceased humming. Mission scurried in from the hallway leading to the women's dorm, throwing her arms around Anna carefully.

"When they brought you back I was really worried," Mission said. Several of the Jedi who had come in off the Forge hid small smiles. "I thought, you know, Malak had really thrown you around and you weren't –"

Anna rubbed her back. "I might be short, Mish, but he'd have problems with that."

She grinned, letting go. "Just . . . don't try to take on a Sith Lord by yourself next time, okay?"

"Just in case I ever find one again, I'll keep that in mind."

Movement from the hall Mission had just left caught Anna's eye, and as she turned Juhani and Bastila stepped or limped in. Bastila caught her eye for a brief second, and started to disappear back into the corridor.

Anna managed to cross the short distance in a second and grab her arm. "Bastila."

She studied the wall. "I-I'm sorry, Anna."

Trying not to move her shoulder, Anna wrapped her good arm around her. "You don't need to apologize."

"I-I just—"

"Stop. Just . . . stop."

They stood there for what felt like minutes, Bastila clinging to her like a lifeline. "I'm sorry for the nose." Anna finally let her go. "And the knee."

Bastila shook her head. "You did what was necessary. I'm — I'm sorry I attacked you."

"You had fallen. It was what you were supposed to do." Anna rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm just — I'm happy you're back. I couldn't . . . I couldn't have killed you."

She nodded, studying a crack in one of the walls. "Yes, I know."

Footsteps sounded from the direction of the cockpit. Anna stepped back. "I'll be right back."

She limped toward the cockpit as Carth appeared, throwing her arm around his neck. Carth grabbed her waist and spun her. "You did it," he whispered.

Anna shook her head. " _We_  did it, flyboy."

"Shut up, gorgeous." Carth pulled her lips to his as she drug his head down to her. She pressed herself against him as his hand wrapped into her sweat-stiffened hair, as if he was trying to breathe her in to reassure himself that she was all right. Anna couldn't care less that the Jedi who'd made it off the Forge with them were giving her quite reproachful looks. She'd just ended a war. They would survive.

"Oh, gods, not this again," Canderous grumbled, stalking back into the hold.

"You got something to say about it?" Anna rested her head against Carth's armor-plated chest as he pressed her even closer to him, resting his head on hers.

"Only that you're making a lovesick fool out of yourself."

"Say what you will, Ordo," Carth retorted. "You're just jealous."

"Hah! Right."

"Statement: Master, it is good to see you awake and coherent." Anna turned. HK stood framed in the doorway leading to the ramp. Before she could stop herself, Anna was actually  _hugging_  the droid. "Uncomfortable Query: Maaaster? Have I offended?"

"No," she answered, stepping back. "I'm just . . ." She cleared her throat awkwardly as her smile faded.

Almost on cue, Carth wrapped his hand around her good arm. Her face lit back up. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, for just having punched it out with someone three times my size."

He chuckled. "Good. You weren't looking so –"

Footsteps sounded on the ramp, and they turned to it. Several Republic soldiers stepped into the main hold. "Sir. Master Jedi," one of them said, saluting Carth. "We have been asked to escort you to the Temple on this planet."

Carth looked down at her. "Well?"

Anna laughed. "You take charge on this one. They'll be lucky if I don't fall asleep during whatever they're doing."

Carth rubbed her back. "Lead the way, soldier."

They left onto the beach, gizka cooing and bouncing out of their way as they passed. Mission linked arms with Anna, who grinned. "What'd'you think they're gonna do?" Mission asked. Anna shrugged.

"No clue. Probably medal us."

"I—I get a medal?" she squeaked. Carth chuckled, his hand resting on Anna's back.

"If that's what they're doing."

"I'm too old for this," Jolee grumbled behind them.

"I'm too Mandalorian for this," Canderous replied.

Anna and Carth glanced at one another, grinning widely.

They left the ravine they were in and the sky opened up, the white tower of the Temple of the Ancients spiraling over them. Carth took a deep breath. "That's what it looks like?"

"Trust me, it's a little more ratty inside, although there is a nice computer in there. It's rather friendly, for a computer."

T3 chortled behind them, and HK suddenly spoke. "Alert: There is a large group of strange-looking meatbags –"

Weapons were immediately in hand. Anna pushed Mission and Carth's down. "No. No, hold on." She took several limping steps forward toward the Elder Rakata, who studied them with distrusting eyes. They lit on Anna, and were suddenly far more trusting. "Elders?"

" _You have succeeded in destroying the Star Forge, yes?_ " The Rakata she recognized as their leader questioned. Anna nodded.

"The Star Forge is destroyed, as per our agreement."

" _This . . . this is excellent news._ " The entire group nodded, almost as one. " _We noticed a large number of ships landing on our planet, and feared the worst. Have you any further needs, Revan, we will remain in our conclave._ "

"You are welcome to join us." Anna motioned toward the Temple. "Admiral Dodonna of the Republic will be present. I could introduce you and translate if –"

" _Perhaps later, Revan. We must discuss the importance of this day amongst ourselves, for now._ " They disappeared back into the cavern leading to their own fortress. Everyone relaxed on their weapons.

"Friends of yours?" One of the Republic soldiers asked. Anna had difficulty shrugging with one shoulder, but she managed.

"Kind of. They're the race that built the Forge." She retreated to the others, linking her arm with Bastila's. Bastila recoiled slightly, but didn't argue. "Shall we?"

As they approached the Temple the recognizable figures of Dodonna and Vandar blocked their way, heading an honor guard. Bastila twitched, as if she was considering running.

"Don't worry," Anna hissed. "It's Vandar. He's one of the more level-headed ones, remember?"

"I just . . . I thought Malak had killed him on Dantooine. I . . . I didn't think I'd –"

"You are taking the first step, Bastila. It will be alright," Juhani said, joining the duo on Bastila's other side.

"Always liked Vandar." Jolee appeared next to Anna. "Not quite as hard-headed as the rest of the damn Council."

"Padawan Anna," Vandar said as both groups drew to a halt. He eyed her sling. "I see you are still alive."

"As are you," Anna replied.

"Padawans Juhani, Jolee . . . it is good to see that you have survived, as well."

"Heh. I was hoping you would have forgotten me by now," Jolee said.

"It is difficult to forget you and your . . .  _activities_." Jolee grinned.

"I am pleased to see that you did not perish with the others in the attack on Dantooine, Master Vandar," Juhani said, bowing.

"Too many of us perished in that attack," Vandar said, a note of sadness in his voice. "The Council – myself and Masters Vrook, Dorak, and Zhar – were recalled to Coruscant and left mere hours before the attack began. Many of those we left perished . . . or were captured."

Anna bit her lip. "Master . . . Master Vandar." She glanced behind her at the other Jedi who had escaped the Star Forge. "The, uh, recall of yourself and the other masters . . . did it have anything to do with certain circumstances surrounding a certain person . . . let's say,  _myself_?"

Vandar lowered his eyes. "Then you know. That will make the briefing much simpler. Yes. Our recall to Coruscant was to discuss your progress . . . and Bastila's reports on your actions. But that is something to be discussed in private." He turned his eyes to Bastila. She looked away. "And Padawan Bastila . . . Bastila, it is good to see that you are still with us."

"I-I am sorry, Master Vandar," Bastila whispered.

"We will speak privately later." Anna bristled for a brief second before his tone – not hard or demanding but rather comforting – caught up with her. After what she'd been through, the last thing Bastila needed was a bunch of Jedi yelling at her. "After we have celebrated the Star Forge's destruction."

"I agree with Master Vandar," Dodonna interrupted. "Now is the time to celebrate that the Sith menace has been halted through your valiant actions. You are all to be recognized for your efforts."

T3 chirped. Mission patted him. "I'm sure she means you, as well."

"Of course." Dodonna flashed a brief, glowing smile. "Follow us."

The Republic soldiers and Jedi left to join the crowd of other Republic soldiers and officers as Dodonna motioned them up onto the walkway that surrounded the Temple. Carth twitched as Anna leaned heavily on him, her leg growing tired.

"What's up with you?" Canderous asked.

Carth glanced over his shoulder. "I should be in uniform, not in some bounty hunter's armor."

"Yeah, well I'm a Mandalorian."

"Kind of ironic, really," Anna murmured, looking back. "A Mandalorian traveling with a former Sith Lord helping to save the galaxy, now getting decorated by the power his people fought with a few years ago."

Canderous shrugged irreverently. "I suppose there is something fitting about that."

"Besides, you'll get your award, and you'll like it."

He grinned. "Sure thing, boss."

Cheering erupted as they stepped up, and Anna felt herself starting to blush. Zaalbar growled something. "I know, right, Big Z?" Mission chuckled.

"What'd he say? I missed it," Anna said, giving a slight half-wave to the crowd with her good hand. Carth's arm tightened around her waist when she wobbled. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Bastila hoverring at the end of the ramp, and sighed. She hadn't expected her to come up, no matter what Anna thought about her actions.

"He's used to people yelling at him, not for him."

She laughed. "Aren't we all, Z?"

He chuckled.

Dodonna waved her arms to silence the crowd. "These individuals are those responsible for our victory today." There was more cheering, followed promptly by another wave for silence. She turned to the group, half of them looking fairly pleased with themselves, two of them looking utterly embarrassed by the attention. T3 rolled next to Anna and chirped, and she rested her hand on his flat head. "You have defeated Malak, destroyed the Star Forge, and broken the spirit of the Sith. For this I am proud to present you each with the Cross of Glory." There was a sharp intake of breath next to Anna, and she glanced over at Carth.

"One you don't have, yet?"

"Do you know how rare those are?" he whispered back.

"This is the highest honor the Republic can bestow. From Coruscant to the farthest reaches of the Outer Rims you will be known as the saviors of the Republic."

The crowd erupted into cheers as they were pinned. Anna swallowed, staring down at her boots after Dodonna had moved on. She didn't deserve an award. She was just cleaning up her mess – nothing more, nothing less. Zaalbar growled out disbelief over the crowd, and they managed to laugh. Canderous looked down at his, pulling it off his armor and turning it over in his hand. "I just don't understand how a little piece of metal means so much," he said gruffly.

Carth looked like he could have cried. Anna squeezed his arm. "Hold on there, flyboy."

"You too, gorgeous."

Vandar stepped forward, just hardly audible over the crowd behind them. "On behalf of the Jedi Council," he began quietly, too quietly for anyone except their small group to hear. "I too would like to honor your actions. We Jedi now have another tale to weave into the grand history of our eternal Order – the Redemption of Revan, the prodigal knight. Wherever you go you will be recognized as the saviors of the galaxy, the heroes of our age. But I sense your journey is not over, Revan. There is a long path ahead of you – your fight against the dark side will be long and tedious."

Anna frowned, turning over Malak's final words in her head.

"Yes," she said quietly. "I suspect it will be."

#

Sometime during the day Anna extracted herself from the crowd of awe-struck Republic soldiers and Jedi (half of the soldiers trying to use typically stupid pick up lines on her and the other half intimidated by Carth's presence over her shoulder) and retreated to the small overlook she'd found the previous day.

She found it already occupied. Bastila stared out over the blue water of the Rakata planet's ocean, lost in thought and leaning heavily on the ancient stone wall. Anna cleared her throat. "Mind if I join you?"

"Hm? Oh, no. I was just –" She looked at her, her familiar reproachful expression making Anna nearly do cartwheels. "Your public awaits, Anna. Or Revan. Or, whatever you're going by."

She sighed. "Anna."

"Then your public awaits,  _Anna_." Bastila turned back to the water.

"Eh. I hate attention." Anna shrugged irreverently.

Bastila made a half-laugh, half-'please stop talking to me' noise. Anna frowned in reply and they stood in silence for what felt like hours, watching the waves whip the beach below. Anna looked back to keep an eye on her crew, and finally found words. "Bastila, it's going to work out."

"I tried to destroy the Republic fleet – the last hope in the war. I fell. I – I won't go unpunished."

"Bastila, I have a feeling that once Vrook gets his hands on me now that I know who I was, I'm going to start missing limbs." She put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "What I told you on the Forge is true. You got some snub fighters blown up.  _I_ , meanwhile, have a record of annihilating worlds and making apprentices quake at the mere mention of my name. And the adoration of Mandalorians like Canderous. And that, in and of itself, should merit an immediate dismemberment." Bastila couldn't help a small laugh.

"Besides. If they decide to strip us of the Force and maroon us on Tatooine, we can go into moisture farming together. I think I might be able to get a certain Twi'lek to help us out, and Carth might be willing to drop by on occasion. And by 'on occasion,' I mean that I'll tie him up in the living room if he tries to lea—"

"Padawan Bastila and . . . Revan," a voice behind them said. They turned.

Behind them stood the three Jedi Council members who had accompanied Vandar from Coruscant for the assault on the Forge. Bastila immediately bowed her head. Anna didn't.

"Masters Vash, Atris, Kavar."

The male nodded. "Bastila. It is good to see that you have returned to us."

"Stop with the formalities, Kavar," the blonde-haired, pale Jedi in the center snapped, before settling her eyes on them. Anna swallowed.

"Atris. That is uncalled for." The last one, whom Anna assumed was Vash, said. "Force, it's no wonder they asked me to come along on this. If I left them with you, you might strand them on a desert planet." She turned to the two Padawans. "We are here because the Council requires your appearance before them, in light of recent events. You are to accompany us to Coruscant."

"Okay. I'll get our ride." Anna started toward where she could just see Carth's head.

"That is unnecessary," Kavar said, stopping her. "You will accompany us on our vessel."

"We should at least inform them that –"

"Master Vandar will take care of the relevant details," Atris stated.

Bastila had yet to speak, or even look up at them. Anna swallowed heavily again, reaching out to rest her hand on Bastila's shoulder. Jedi be  _damned_ , she didn't like this. "Lead the way, then, Masters."

#

Carth had seen Anna sneak away from the crowd about a half-hour previously, but let her go. She hated crowds, or at least, she said she did. Finally somewhat alone, he looked around for his crew.

Juhani was clinging to Jolee, who was talking animatedly nearby to another ancient-looking Jedi. Carth could hear the words "Exar Kun" and "sandwich" repeatedly, accompanied by laughter from all three Jedi. Canderous was a little closer to the Temple and trying his best at pretending to ignore the female pilot fluttering around him, who apparently had a thing for aging Mandalorians. Another group of female soldiers were gathered around T3 and fretting over the blaster scoring on his paneling, and Mission and Zaalbar had found themselves surrounded by (and entertaining) a group of the youngest soldiers and pilots, probably pulled straight out of training to serve in the Star Forge battle.

The fact that he couldn't see HK was disturbing, but he figured he was out taking down a bull rancor for kicks. What disturbed him more was what he saw when he checked on Bastila and Anna.

He was rather far away from the duo, but not far enough away to distinguish their emotions. Anna was stoic, like every time she was receiving news she didn't like, one hand gently resting on Bastila's shoulder. The younger Jedi was staring at the ground, unable to meet the eyes of the three older individuals standing in front of them – Carth recognized them as the Council members present at the initial ceremony. After a brief glance in his direction, Anna nodded and said something back to the Council members.

They walked away toward the Black Rakata beach.

"Shit," Carth muttered under his breath, starting to weave through the crowd. He spotted HK's red head on the edge, and broke out next to the droid. "Why didn't you –"

"Statement: Master informed me not to interrupt her discussions with –"

Carth pushed past the droid. "Well, good job, bodyguard." Carth started toward where he'd last seen the two Jedi.

"Going somewhere, Commander?"

Carth turned to Vandar, who stood on a small hover disk behind him and floated at about HK's shoulder. "Where are they taking them?"

Vandar sighed. "The Council sent Masters Vash, Atris, and Kavar to escort Padawans Anna and Bastila to Coruscant to stand before them and determine their culpability — and execute punishment if necessary."

Carth was furious. "Y-You're talking about  _punishing_  them? After everything they've been through, you and the Council want to _punish_  them?"

" _Commander._ " Vandar emphasized his title. "Just because I believe that Revan has found her redemption and that Bastila is not a danger does not mean the Council shares my optimism. It is my duty to see you and your crew to Coruscant as well, so the Council may question you after they speak with the Padawans."

"Then what are we waiting for? I'll get the others, and –"

"Commander." Vandar's voice stopped him in his tracks. "I know and understand the friendship you have with the Padawans, but you must separate yourself from that. You cannot help them in this. We will leave tomorrow for Coruscant."

"Van –" Carth took a deep breath. " _Master_  Vandar, that is not my concern. Anna has not slept –  _well_ , at least – since finding out who she was and since Bastila was taken. She sat up every night planning every possible scenario she could face with the Star Forge, sometimes keeping Jolee up for hours asking about Exar Kun, or with Juhani asking about her struggle with the dark side. And Bastila - I don't know what he did to her, but she is  _not_  ready to be interrogated! They both need  _rest_ , not a bunch of nosy Jedi poking around at them! Not  _yet_!"

Carth's ability to openly argue with someone who could probably kill him by twitching his finger most certainly came from too much time spent with the woman he was defending.

"I understand your concern for the Padawan, but I assure you that the Council is not going to push her beyond her abilities." Vandar turned his craft away, ending the conversation. "We will leave on the  _Ebon Hawk_  in the morning. You are tasked with informing your companions."

Carth scowled at the retreating Master, stalking off to find the others. He reached Jolee and Juhani first.

"Can I interrupt your terribly interesting conversation," Carth muttered to the old Jedi. "And speak to you and Juhani in private?"

They stepped out to the side, and Carth caught the eyes of Zaalbar and Canderous. Canderous finally shrugged off his clingy female officer and joined them, and Zaalbar pulled Mission away from their crew of teenaged soldiers and nudged T3 away from his admirers.

The group moved away from the crowd, standing in a small clump outside the celebrating soldiers. "What's this about, Onasi?" Canderous asked.

"The Jedi Council's taken Anna and Bastila to Coruscant."

"What? Why?" Mission asked.

"The Council probably wants to ensure that both Revan and Bastila have turned back to the light. Vandar may believe that they've come about fully, but I doubt many on the Council share his belief," Jolee said.

"That's about what he said." Carth sighed. "He will be accompanying us on the  _Hawk_  in the morning. I think –"

There was the sound of a ship firing up below them and a small transport lifted off the Black Rakata beach, disappearing into the atmosphere. Carth sighed. "—they're already gone," he finished.

"Well, why didn't you  _stop_  them?" Canderous asked. Carth glared at him.

"I  _tried_. Anna had told HK to stand down for the rest of the day, so he didn't intervene. I got stuck in the crowd. I noticed  _you_ weren't paying attention to them, what with your little soldier –"

"This is  _not_  solving  _anything_ ," Juhani hissed. The two men fell silent. "The Council has asked for our presence as well, then?"

"They'll want to talk to us about Anna and Bastila's recent actions in order to come to a conclusion," Jolee answered.

"So what do we do? Do we leave for Coruscant? Do we message the ship? I don't–"

"If Master Vandar has given us our orders we must follow them," Juhani said. "We cannot –"

"To hell with the Jedi," Canderous said. "Revan – Anna's done more for us than they have. We have to support her."

"There's nothing we can do, Canderous. I don't want to defy the Council and make it harder for them," Carth admitted.

"The Council will treat them fairly. I think."

The group groaned. "You  _think_?" Mission said. "You just . . .  _think_. That's real comforting, Jolee."

"Bah. Between the couple of level-headed Jedi they'll probably bring in, Vandar and Zhar alone will keep the Council level-headed." Jolee paused. "Although, it is troublesome that Vandar is leaving  _with_  us. I know they would plan on speaking, at least preliminarily, with Anna and Bastila before speaking to us. It will mean that he will not be present – I'm afraid that Zhar alone may not be enough to keep the Council's head level, in light of Anna's . . . well, the animosity they must still feel toward Revan and her actions may lead to issues without Vandar to keep them level."

"Then it's even more important that we don't waste time!" Canderous argued. "We need to –"

"We have no other options in this," Juhani said. "We must trust in the wisdom of the Council."

"I don't like this," Mission said. Zaalbar growled his agreement.

#

On the transport that was to connect them with the Republic capital ship taking the duo to Coruscant Atris confiscated Anna's lightsabers, holdout blaster, spare lightsabers, and her computer and security spikes. Once the transport had docked the two were shuffled off to a room on the crew deck. Vash and Kavar stood in the door as Atris opened the room across the hall.

"These are your quarters for the duration of the trip," Vash explained. "You are required to stay here until we escort you to the Temple."

Anna leaned back against one of the metal walls, crossing her arm over her sling. "So have we been arrested, then?"

"Anna," Bastila whispered reproachfully. She sank down on one of the beds, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Consider it merely a precaution until the Council can reach a decision," Kavar explained. Anna frowned.

"A decision about  _what_?"

Kavar and Vash traded a look and palmed the door closed. She turned to Bastila. "What in  _hell_  is going on?"

"They need to determine that we are not a threat," she muttered tonelessly, staring blankly at the floor. "And what they need to do with us."

Anna frowned, sitting down next to her. "Well, that's great."

"Anna, this is important. We –"

"They won't do  _anything_  to us, Bastila. You have to believe that." Anna rubbed her back gently as she rested her head in her hands. "Look – do you want to talk?"

She was silent for several minutes, and Anna finally sighed and started to move away. Bastila's quiet voice drew her back. "Anna?"

Anna turned in time to see the first sob shake her body, and pulled Bastila into herself. "Come here. Let it out."

Bastila turned towards her, burying her head in her shoulder and collapsing into tears. Anna swallowed, wrapping her arm around her friend and resting her forehead in her hair.


	55. Chapter 55

Anna didn't sleep for the three days it took them to reach Coruscant.

Bastila cried herself into oblivion their first night, and Anna found herself unable to sleep from her mind trying to figure out what _exactly_  Malak had done to turn a woman who had been one of the strongest people she knew into a quivering, jumpy, broken girl.

The next day after coaxing a shower out of their Council babysitters she listened as Bastila opened up about her two weeks in Malak's hands, Anna wheedling out every detail in the hopes that sharing it would help her heal. Anna sat curled on her bed after several failed attempts to sleep while listening to Bastila sob quietly in her sleep, unable to silence the guilt and self-hatred keeping her awake. As indirect as it may have been and no matter how many times she'd likely be told it was merely a stretch of her imagination to take that route, what had happened to Bastila had been Anna's fault.

Around midmorning on the third day, the door opened. Kavar, Vash, and Atris stood framed in the empty space. Anna nudged Bastila awake.

"There is a shuttle that will take us to the Temple," Atris said. "Once there we will first take you, Revan, and question you in the High Council Chamber."

She winced. "I would really prefer it you did not use that name."

Atris glared at her, her eyes steely-cold. "We will see."

"That is enough, Atris," Vash chided gently. "Follow us."

#

Anna studied the door to the High Council Chamber from her position in front of it, folding her hands behind her back. She'd discarded her sling for this, her shoulder stinging but no longer aching if she moved it. Underneath the sleeves of her robe, her fingers tapped on one another.  _I do_ not _like this._

It felt like the entire Temple (or all hundred or so remaining Jedi, at least, and only those who'd been ) had been alerted to who they were and why they were here, and Jedi clumped in small groups around them. Their whispered conversations were cacophonous around the two women, making it sound like the shyyrack cave on Korriban where the shrieks of the tuk'ata and shyyracks had threatened to overwhelm their senses –

Waves of exhaustion crashed over her, making her waver on her feet. Why the hell couldn't this wait? She needed to lock herself in a room with a certain Republic pilot that wouldn't mind her falling asleep on him for several days straight, now that the Star Forge was destroyed and he had come to terms with her past and –

Anna swallowed, and glanced at Bastila. She was stony-faced, her eyes also locked on the door in front of them. She stepped a little closer to her. "It's going to be okay, Bastila."

"Mm," she muttered.

"Tell me that."

"What?"

"Tell me it's going to be okay."

"It—It'll be okay."

Anna shook her head. "Believe it this time."

She sighed heavily. "It's going to be okay, Anna."

"There. That's better.

A protocol droid stepped out of the door ahead of them, holding it open a crack. "Padawan Kyjjl?"

"Yeah," Anna answered.

"The Council will see you now."

She looked back at Bastila. "Good luck."

She nodded, looking nauseous. "And may—" Her voice died as she sighed and lowered her eyes, looking away. Anna grinned hopefully before stepping through the door.

The room seemed oddly familiar. The floor was covered with a several-pointed star, the wide windows opening up to Coruscant beyond and a strangely-shaped piece of stone in the exact center of the room. Chairs were set up around the circumference of the star – only one of them was empty. She glanced around, spotting Zhar, Vrook, Dorak, and their three escorts from the Rakata planet. She didn't recognize any of the others, which was probably a good thing.

"There is fine, Anna," Zhar said gently. She stepped forward, feeling awkwardly exposed. "How are you feeling?"

 _Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I'm still standing right now, my shoulder hurts, and my leg is going numb_.  _And we won't even go into what it feels like happened to my stomach._ Istead of listing her various ailments, however, Anna put on a strained smile. "Considering the current circumstances, quite well."

"Masters Atris, Vash, and Kavar have indicated that you expressed confusion about the circumstances that have brought you here," one of the unidentified Masters said. She nodded. "We are also led to believe that you do know your true identity. Is that the case?"

Anna nodded again. "If we are referring to the fact that I was once Revan, yes, I am aware of that fact."

There was a pause. "And your opinion on that?" Vrook asked.

"I have yet to develop a hankering for flowy black robes, red lightsabers and galactic domination, if that is what you want to hear."

"This is not a joke, Revan," Vrook answered. Anna sighed.

"I'm not making it a joke. However I think, frankly, that  _asking_  me whether or not I feel like trying to destroy the galaxy is somewhat . . ." Her mind struggled for a word. ". . . silly. Also, I've found that the name 'Revan'  _really_  is not one I answer to, so can we perhaps  _not_  use that name?"

Vrook opened his mouth to argue, but Vash raised her hand. "No. She is right, Master Vrook, and no matter what our personal beliefs on the matter are she  _has_  just done a feat many Jedi are incapable of, even as Masters." She turned back to her. "Note that Master Vrook does not exactly speak for the rest of the Council. Whatever our feelings on Revan's actions –  _your_  past – what we did when we healed your mind was give you that second chance for redemption. That is  _not_  what we are asking, Anna."

Anna swallowed. "I know that. And I thank you for the chance. I don't want my statements to seem as if I don't appreciate it."

"We do not believe that you  _don't_  appreciate it," Kavar stepped in. "But we must debrief you of your experiences since leaving Dantooine."

She closed her eyes briefly as exhaustion swept over her, and she swayed on her feet. "Must this be done now?"

She needed to sleep or  _something_. Malak was dead but his last words continued to haunt her, and she still needed to un-exhaust her brain from what Bastila had told her. But she rebalanced herself.

"It is highly important that we do this immediately," Nomi said gently. Anna nodded.

"All right. Well. The first planet we went to was Tatooine," she started.

"One of Bastila's transmissions informed us that you had been approached by individuals inside the –"

"A Twi'lek. More precisely, a friend of Bastila's mother."

"You continued to race?" one of the unknown Masters asked disapprovingly.

Anna nodded. "On Tatooine, if I had wanted to resolve the issues between Czerka and the Sand People peacefully, it was necessary to acquire enough funds to purchase an HK-line protocol and translation droid who claimed to understand the Tuskan language. That was the only way I could think of securing the funds."

"And you managed to resolve that peacefully?"

"I did. In the process we managed to convince them to release several Jawas and one Twi'lek they held prisoner."

"Very well."

"We – we were also attacked in the streets by several ex-Jedi." At Zhar's nod – she hadn't realized that she'd started staring at him while speaking – Anna continued. "Our suspicion that someone had escaped Davik Kang's estate on Taris and reported us to Malak was confirmed."

"Did you learn who it was that –"

"The bounty hunter Calo Nord." Anna shivered a little. His head was unattached to his body and she knew he was certainly dead, but the man still half-terrified her. "He was present when Carth, Canderous, and I . . .  _borrowed_  the  _Ebon Hawk_  from the Exchange."

"Stole, you mean." Atris' voice was freezing. Anna didn't look at her.

" _Borrowed_. When the Sith start bombarding the next cityscape planet you're on, tell me you wouldn't think jumping on the nearest ship is a good idea."

"I would have at –"

"Silence, Atris." Vash held her hand up. "Continue, Anna."

She swayed, closing her eyes until she rebalanced herself. To her horror, when she opened them, everything quickly faded to black.

#

Bastila paced in front of the Council door, ignoring the Jedi clumped along the edges of the hall. She jumped when the door cracked, and the protocol droid that had taken Anna inside stepped out and to the comm system near the door.

"This is J-1R3," he said, the typical droid calm leveling his voice. "The Council requests a medical team immediately come to the High Council Chamber."

:: _Medical team is on the way_.::

Bastila grabbed the droid's metal arm. "What happened?"

She had some ideas, mostly involving either Anna or Atris – or both in conjunction – doing something stupid. She got her answer when Vrook stuck his head out the still-cracked door and nodded her in.

"Bastila."

She hurried through, J-1R3 closing the door behind them. The Council members had abandoned their seats to group around the center of the room. Anna, meanwhile, lay collapsed and still in the middle of their circle.

"—exhausted to continue this," Zhar argued as they approached. "I stated that we should give them more time to –"

"This is something we needed to determine  _before_  questioning their compan—"

"Oh, yes, Atris, and I agree." Kavar's voice cut through the debate. "However, it is fairly difficult to talk to someone when they're unconscious."

"We can always –"

"Sift through her mind? You know as well as I do the importance of hearing what she  _says_  about her actions, rather than just what they  _were_." Kavar glared at her. "No. We will end this for today." He turned to Bastila. "We asked you in here to accompany the medical team taking Anna downstairs. We will speak to you tomorrow. While you are downstairs, someone will show you to your temporary quarters."

Bastila nodded and opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off. "We –"

"The discussion is  _over_ , Atris." Vash's voice left absolutely no room for argument.

#

Carth stared blankly out the cockpit at the stars blurring past them. They were still several hours from Coruscant, traveling with a detachment of the Republic fleet heading back for repairs.

Something in the communications room down the ship chirped, and a chair scraped as Mission stood and walked back toward the hold. The noises were faint, but present.

In all honesty, he was at least happy that it was Vandar along for the ride and not someone like Vrook, who probably still had his head so far up his – anyway, Vandar was engaged in a trip-spanning holochess tournament with Jolee, which kept most of the passengers entertained and allowed Carth to simmer about the Council in peace.

There was a beep from the console, and in checking it he almost missed Mission's relay from the communications room.

"Master Vandar, Master Zhar is trying to reach you."

There was no reply except the quiet hum of Vandar's disk as he zipped down the hallway. Carth moved to check their progress on the galaxy map, trying to pretend he wasn't eavesdropping on the two Masters' conversation.

"Zhar. What is this about?"

:: _How far away from Coruscant is your ship_?::

"Several hours, I believe." There was a pause. "Have Vash, Atris, and Kavar not arrived?"

:: _No, they have. Can you collect Commander Onasi? I need to –_ ::

Carth found his feet carrying him to the door of the room. "I heard my name."

"Master Zhar has asked for you." Vandar indicated the panel, where the Twi'lek's face waited for an answer.

"Right here," Carth said, leaning over slightly.

:: _There was a small problem when we were speaking to Anna_ ,:: Zhar said. Carth bit his lip. :: _How has she been the past several weeks?_ ::

"Since when?"

Zhar paused. :: _I am thinking since the_ Leviathan.::

"What happened?"

He sighed. :: _Exhaustion, we believe. She is in the medical room now with Bastila._ ::

"She collapsed?"

:: _Yes._ ::

Carth fought to bite back his immediate, stinging remark and instead focused on the question. "If she's slept more than three hours a night since the  _Leviathan_ , I'd be surprised. She spent most nights with the holonet, or with Jolee or Juhani in the main hold. With the nightmares she was having afterwards, I don't blame her."

Zhar nodded. :: _That was my concern. Vandar_ ,::he said. :: _I informed you that I believed the Council –_ ::

"We were agreed, Zhar," Vandar reminded him. "I did not think that subjecting Anna to such an experience so soon after the emotional trial she has endured was wise."

:: _Commander Onasi, the_ Ebon Hawk _will report directly to the Temple upon arrival. We will want to debrief you and your companions as quickly as possible._ ::

"I figured that we would have traveled there immediately in order to determine what our step was in this process."

:: _Yes. I would prefer this take as little time as possible. I will meet you here when you arrive._ ::

Carth frowned as Zhar disappeared, then nodded back at Vandar and returned to the cockpit. Propping his feet up on the console, he shook his head.  _  
_

Damn Jedi.


	56. Chapter 56

Carth tapped the table, studying the two Jedi in front of him. They were interviewing Revan's companions all at the same time, to attempt to prevent them from comparing stories or some-such nonsense. He was waiting for them to ask him a question — they were apparently waiting for him to begin talking. Finally one of them cleared their throat.

"You are Commander Onasi?"

"Captain," he corrected. He'd been promoted the previous day. Meritorious service or something.

"Captain Onasi." The Jedi made a note on his datapad. "And you traveled with Revan since—"

"I've traveled with  _Anna_  since Taris," he corrected again. The man cleared his throat.

"Right." Another note. "Then you believe that she is no longer Revan?"

"I believe she rejected her identity on the Rakata planet and will not go back to it, yes."

"You believe that unconditionally?"

Carth met his eyes, gaze hard. "Completely."

Another nod.

"And you trust her?"

"With my life." And far much more. But he had to keep that under wraps, lest they sensed just how much they cared for one another. If they did, he may never see her again. He already suspected that they might keep her imprisoned in the Temple as it was, and if that happened he wasn't sure what he would do.

"Can you walk us through what has happened since Dantooine concerning Padawans Anna and Bastila?"

Carth took a deep breath. "Well, first we headed to Tatooine . . ."

#

That Canderous intimidated the two Jedi supposed to be talking to him was an understatement.

He sat with his feet propped up on the table, looking completely unconcerned at the situation. One of the Jedi cleared their throats. "You are —"

"Canderous Ordo." He picked at a piece of loose skin on his finger. "How long is this gonna take? Not getting paid for this shit."

"It should not be long," the Jedi replied. "You joined Revan on Taris?" He was answered with a curt nod. "Can you walk us through what happened since leaving Dantooine?"

Canderous huffed. "She killed your Sith Lord the way you wanted her to."

The Jedi leaned forward on the table, affixing him with a cold look. "Can you humor us?"

Canderous shrugged. "Can you pay me for it?"

The two Jedi traded an exasperated look. "Fine. Just . . . start talking."

#

Anna stirred slightly, a yawn splitting her face. One hand came up to rub her eyes, and she cracked them open.

She was in a small room similar to the ones given to Jedi on Dantooine, dark and sparsely furnished with a bed, a small chest, and a computer terminal. The lights were off, and she swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed at her face.

The door opened, and she looked up. A droid walked in, and set a tray of food down on the bed. "Padawan Anna. It is good to see you awake."

"Am I . . . being monitored?" She glanced around the room suspiciously, looking for a camera. The droid shook his head.

"Not at all. I have merely been waiting for you to return to consciousness."

Anna sighed, rubbing her forehead. "That's just a little creepy."

"You have been moving between different stages of unconsciousness and semiconsciousness for nearly three days. It is—"

"Wait, what?" Her head jerked up. "How long?"

"Three days. The Council was beginning to worry that you had been irreparably damaged."

Anna glanced at the tray, inspecting a piece of bread on it. She bit into it, satisfied when it didn't taste like there was any drugs in it. Not that she necessarily suspected the Jedi would drug her, but she didn't want to take that chance. "How is Bastila?"

"I do not know."

"Has the Council made up their minds?"

"I do not know."

She raised an eyebrow. "Am I allowed to leave this room?"

"The Jedi Council formally asks that you do not."

Anna sighed and nodded. "I figured I was under arrest. Thanks."

"If you have further questions, please let me know." The droid turned and left, closing the door behind him. Anna raised an eyebrow, munching thoughtfully on her bread.

"I'll just ask you, no worries." She shook her head. "Not like I can do that if I don't know who you are . . ."

She hadn't realized how hungry she'd been, and ravenously devoured the food left for her. Then she stood and paced.

And paced.

About an hour of pacing later she grew bored and lifted her bed onto one end, jumping up to grip the headboard and pull herself up, working her arms and attempting to distract herself from her imprisonment. The pull-ups lasted only a few minutes, and she dropped her bed back to the floor, pacing again.

Five hours after she'd woken up Zhar opened her door, finding her sitting in the middle of her room with her furniture levitating. He cleared his throat, and she glanced over her shoulder. "Master Zhar."

"Do you mind?"

She shook her head and carefully let the furniture settle back on the floor, then stood. "Do you need me?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, I suppose."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Getting interrogated," she replied, voice harsh. "I suppose you've drug Bastila and my companions in front of the Council by now?"

Zhar nodded, but raised his hand. "Calm down."

"I am  _perfectly_ calm." Anna stood and started pacing again, hands behind her back. "Why are the Jedi afraid of  _me_? I haven't . . . I'm not  _Revan_ , I'm not who I  _was_."

"I believe you," he replied. "But . . ." Zhar sighed. "Did you know there were a few who wanted us to let you die? To not give you a second chance."

Anna sighed heavily, blankly tapping her console with her head bowed. "I almost wish you hadn't." Zhar didn't reply, but she could feel the question in his stare. "It's one thing," she started. "To be told who you are. But to hear people confirm it, to have in proven unequivocally — it would be fine if I was just one of Revan's underlings, someone who followed orders without question. But to  _be_ Revan, to know of all the things I've done but am unable to remember . . ." She shook her head, blinking back the tears threatening to spill over. "All the people I've killed or tortured, all the shockwaves that my actions have caused and the repercussions that they've had on everyone and everything. Malak was right. It's disgusting that I'm still alive."

"Anna . . ." Zhar stood, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes the Force—"

"To hell with the Force," she snapped, wincing away from him. "There's no justice in this galaxy."

"Perhaps you yet have some role to play. I sense the Force is not done with you."

"That's comforting," Anna replied. "Maybe I can rip apart the galaxy again."

"Or perhaps you will be the magnet that draws it together again. Whether you believe it or not, you are a hero. The galaxy needs that now."

"What the galaxy needs is someone like Commander Onasi," she replied. "Someone who has a history that extends past seven months ago, someone who doesn't have skeletons that could pop up and ruin him at a second's notice. That's what the galaxy needs,  _not_  me.  _Not_  someone who knows footage exists proving who she is,  _not_  someone who could easily be ruined by a single misspoken word."

Zhar sighed. "You are underestimating yourself and the aid you can lend the galaxy."

"Perhaps I just need time," she murmured, obviously talking more to herself. "I have yet to come to terms with my own identity. I don't think I should think about the future or anything yet." She turned back to him. "Master Zhar . . ."

"Yes?"

Anna took a deep breath, looking down at her hands. "What's going to be done with me?"

The Twi'lek blinked, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"What will be done with me? Will I be imprisoned here? Will you strip me of the Force and send me into exile? Or will you just sweep everything under the rug like it never happened?"

"Well." Zhar sighed, staring at the wall behind her. "Stating that we are not in a difficult position at the moment would be a lie. You are not denying your identity, yet you do not recall the events that we would hold you for. Since your reprogramming you have been, while unorthodox, a shining exemplar of the Jedi Order according to your companions and your actions. Your strength is needed now, but we must assess whether the risk is appropriate. If there is a chance that Revan will return—"

"No," she replied hotly. "I absolutely refuse. As far as I'm concerned, Revan is dead and will remain so."

He nodded. "That is good to hear, and the Council will want to hear it as well. We will likely attempt to speak with you again later today."

Anna nodded, ducking her head again. "Master Zhar, if I could ask — how is Bastila?"

"She is troubled, as we expected her to be. Her ordeal took a great toll on her. And we are having problems with the Republic, but you need not concern yourself with them."

"How long will I be here?" she asked.

"I wish I could give you a definitive answer. It will depend on how long it takes us to come to our decision." Zhar opened the door. "Please try to  _not_ tear apart the room while you wait."

Anna sighed. "Does this thing make calls out of the Temple?" Zhar shook his head and closed the door behind him, and she sighed. In a wave of frustration she punched the wall, groaning.

She was going to go  _insane_.

#

"Ugh." Mission collapsed onto the bench next to Zaalbar in the public hall of the Temple. "I hope that helped. I miss her already."

" _We won't be together forever, you know,_ " Zaalbar replied.

"Yeah. But I'm not ready to say goodbye to 'em, you know? Besides, you have a life debt."

" _I suspect Anna will dissolve it._ " He sighed, shifting on the bench. " _I should return to my people either way._ "

Carth dropped down next to her, rubbing his forehead. "How'd it go, Mish?"

"They are really a cold bunch," she answered. "Think it'll help her?"

"I hope so." Carth shifted on the bench as Canderous reappeared, staring at a pair of Jedi lingering in the hall primarily to make them uncomfortable. He settled down next to Zaalbar.

"That was pointless," he grumbled.

"Did they say how long it would be before we found out?" Mission asked. Both men shook their heads.

"No. And I haven't seen Jolee or Juhani since we got here."

They'd each been debriefed over the course of two days, constantly asking to know how Anna or Bastila was only to be told that they were safe or fine.

"I just hope that—"

"Have you ever seen a lazier crew?" Their heads jerked up as Anna, Jolee, and Juhani entered the hall, accompanied by a couple of Council members that they recognized from Dantooine. Mission jumped to her feet, bounding across the room and flying into Anna. She winced, stumbling on her leg.

"Sorry," Mission mumbled, hugging her tighter. Anna didn't reply, holding the Twi'lek close. "Are you done?"

Anna took a step back, looking up as the others joined them. Carth's hands twitched at his sides and he folded them behind his back, obviously resisting the urge to take her in his arms. She smiled at him.

"Not really," she answered with a smile back at Mission. A tense one, but it was one nonetheless. "I'm still confined to the Temple, but I'm at least allowed out of my room."

"So we could come and see you if we wanted."

"Sort of." Jolee patted Mission's shoulder. "More than if she was trapped back in her room."

"I'm fairly certain they were more worried about me tearing the room apart." She nodded at Carth. "Commander."

"It's Captain, now."

She grinned, though it transmitted so much more than a simple smile. "Congratulations." Out the corner of her eye she could see Canderous making a face.

"Thank you." Their interaction was stiffly formal, but Anna swallowed slightly. If the Jedi couldn't spot the underlying tension in their voices, they were blind.

But that was not what had apparently caught Vandar, Zhar, and Dorak's attentions as they stepped or hovered past them. Anna glanced towards the door and froze.

The front door of the Temple leading into the public hall, where people would come if they needed to contact the Jedi for some reason and couldn't use a terminal, tended to be kept open. And, startling the couple of Jedi in the main hall rather than elsewhere (since most had been pulled back with the end of the war and  _were_  at the Temple) the open doors had admitted a couple of Republic military personnel and a collection of military-grade war droids. They bore the insignia of the military police, and looked fairly determined.

"This doesn't bode well," Jolee said quietly.

"Bastila?" Carth asked. Anna shrugged.

"Or me," she murmured quietly. Carth glanced at her.

"There's no way anyone would know who you are!" he protested quietly.

"Yes, we have seen  _that_  before," Juhani replied. Carth glared at her.

The trio of masters stopped the men outside of their hearing, and from the looks of things the conversation quickly grew heated. Anna took a couple of steps forward.

"Master Zhar?" she hissed, only to have the Twi'lek's hand stop her. He glanced at the other two, and Dorak quickly gripped her arm and pulled her to the side.

"They here for Bastila?" she murmured, taking a glance back at the men. She wouldn't be surprised — after all, while the Jedi policed their own there had just been an enormous war  _between_  what most saw as two different Jedi factions. The Jedi keeping Bastila confined to the Temple for the foreseeable future, as they were doing with her, made sense. The galaxy was hostile to the Jedi, and they needed to be as careful as possible. Especially with Bastila's recent history and her own, slightly more distant and far more awful identity.

"No," Dorak said, placing his hands on her arms. She stared up at him. "You."

Anna mouthed wordlessly, glancing between Dorak and the argument still going on. "The Republic knows who I am?"

"It is possible someone in the Exchange sold the information, probably to some Senator looking for something on the Order. We feared something like this might happen when you told us that there were those who knew. They would likely demand Bastila if they did not believe us to be protecting Revan. As the Republic sees it, someone must take culpability for the war."

"So what do we do?"

"See if we cannot talk them down. If we cannot, we'll deal with it then."

She shook her head. "I can possibly 'prove' that I'm not Revan. I—"

"We cannot—"

"If someone needs to take responsibility I will. And if that means the Republic imprisons me or I'm tried for crimes against civilization or whatnot and possibly executed, then so be it. I've done enough damage, I don't need to do more."

"It may not come to that."

"And if it does?"

Dorak sighed and returned to the other two masters, and Anna hurried back. "What's going on?" Jolee hissed as the group huddled.

"They're here for me," Anna murmured. "Someone who had information on me must have sold it to the Republic, and someone important wants answers."

"Who else would know?"

She shrugged. "An escaped ex-Jedi looking for revenge, an Exchange employee looking for money . . . I don't know."

"So what's the plan?" Carth asked quietly. "The door's not that far away, you could be in the private part of the Temple in a matter of se-"

"If they demand it I'm leaving," Anna replied, reaching out to brush his hand gently. "If they don't get Revan they may ask for Bastila, and I don't want that to happen."

"The Jedi usually punish their own," Juhani said. "I don't understand how—"

"The Republic wants someone to pay for this. That's why they'd take Bastila if they couldn't get me."

"But, you aren't Revan," Mission protested. "Or you aren't anymore."

"I know. Which is why I have a plan if I go." She shook her head.

Carth smiled weakly at her. "Well, be careful."

"And we can always bust you out if you change your mind," Canderous added. "Don't get your ass killed or anything."

She punched him in the arm. "Shut up, you."

"I'm sure the Jedi will do whatever they can to get you out of there," Jolee said. "After all, it'd look  _really_ good right now for Revan to show back up and the Jedi to have to explain just why she isn't dead. Or a Sith."

"Exactly." She glanced over her shoulder. From the looks of things, the three masters still hadn't managed to gain any ground. "I'm going to go keep them from embarrassing themselves further. I'll . . . hopefully see you in a few days. I'm sure they'll just keep me for questioning."

"Of the interrogation variety," Carth replied quietly. "Anna, I—"

"I'll be fine, flyboy," she said, a half-grin on her face. "I always am. Mission, take care of them. You know how they are."

Mission gave her a hug. "Be careful," she murmured, burying her face in Anna's neck. "Please, be careful."

"Don't worry. I'm always careful. I'll always be careful."

"Who are you kidding?" Mission replied, stepping back. "You're never careful."

Anna laughed. "Good point." She patted Mission's shoulder, nodded to Canderous, Zaalbar, and the Jedi, and smiled strongly at Carth before turning and heading towards the argument.

She cleared her throat when she stepped up, and the argument ceased. "Hi," she said, smiling her Jedi-smile at them. "I'm Anna Kyjjl. I hear you have some questions for me?" She glanced over at the three masters, shaking her head at Vandar's disapproving look. "I'll cooperate fully, of course."

"I'm glad we could come to some reasonable agreement," the apparent leader said, producing a pair of binders. Anna shook her head and held up her hand.

"I'll be coming peacefully. There's no need for that."

"Very well. Follow me." Anna nodded as he turned, glanced back once at Master Zhar, who nodded, and followed him as the droids and couple other organic officers fell in around her.

"I really don't like this," Carth murmured.

"You haven't liked a damn thing since the Star Forge," Canderous replied.

"Because everything that's happened since the Star Forge hasn't been what  _should_  have happened!" They watched as Vandar and Zhar started towards the Temple shuttle pad, and Jolee held out his hand.

"I'll go. Should be able to do something." He jogged after the duo, catching up just before they disappeared.

"I'm with Carth on this one," Mission said quietly as the pair of Jedi who'd watched the entire thing hurried off. "I don't like this at all."


	57. Chapter 57

Anna's insistence on not being put in binders lasted to the Republic shuttle, where the lead officer snapped them onto her wrists despite a second protest and pushed her into a seat. "Seriously?" she asked, as the droids formed a protective circle between her and the other soldiers. No one answered her. "All right, look," she started, leaning forward. The droids' weapons snapped up, and she held up her bound hands and sank back. "Okay, okay. Fine. But I want to know  _exactly_  what I'm getting brought in for. I'm a Jedi — more than that, I'm a hero. I just saved the  _Republic_ , I—"

"I wasn't told. I was merely told to fetch you from the Temple and that you were potentially dangerous. Someone has some questions for you."

"But  _what_?"

"I told you, I don't know." The shuttle pulled away from the Temple, and Anna glanced back as the spires rose up behind them.

"Well, where are we going?"

"Galactic Court building. I'm sure you'll be back out in a day or so."

"Right." She let her head fall to the side, looking out the window of the transport. The Coruscant city buildings whisked by, until the spires of the Galactic Supreme Court whirred into view.

They set down on the building's pad, and Anna held out her hands as the lead officer stood. He glanced at her, and she tilted her head to the side. "Wouldn't look too good," she said quietly. "For the Republic to drag their current hero around in chains, would it?"

He paused, then hesitantly undid the cuffs. Anna rubbed her wrists, standing and following him out.

Fortunately no one seemed to have been tipped off to who they were escorting back, and the landing pad was fairly empty and quite silent. The droids formed a ring around her, marching her directly behind the pair of military police officers. They entered through a side door and turned immediately into a narrow hallway, and the lead officer turned back with the binders upheld. She sighed heavily and held out her hands, pursing her lips as the metal clenched around her wrists. He nodded to the droids, and he and the other officer began walking her further into the building.

"I still don't see why this is necessary," she complained.

"Routine questioning."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't drag Nomi Sunrider or any of those other hundred or so Jedi in for questioning after they solved your Exar Kun issues."

"I'm led to believe that this is a special circumstance," he replied. They turned another corner, and Anna rolled her eyes.

"Holding cells?"

"We have a certain protocol we need to follow, Master Jedi."

Anna frowned as they directed her to a sparsely-furnished cell. "Seriously."

"I'm sorry. It should only be for a few hours, until someone's free to talk to you." He motioned to it, and she held out her hands with a pointed look. He pursed his lips and unlocked her binders, then motioned delicately to her cell. Anna arched an eyebrow and stepped in, turning back as a purplish forcefield arched over the entrance.

"Well," she said quietly, as the two republic officers walked off. "At least it isn't a torture cage today."

She found herself doing most of what she'd done in her room in the Temple, pacing then pacing some more then meditating then more pacing and a little bit of rearranging her furniture. By the time anyone returned, she'd essentially moved everything in the room completely around until it was more to her liking.

The forcefield zipped down behind her, and she turned. Her military police friends had returned, and motioned. "After you."

"No cuffs this time?" she asked, mouth twisting wryly. He shook his head.

"Direct orders. No need." She smiled carefully and started out after the first man, the second bringing up the rear. They led her to another corridor, and deposited her in what looked like a plain interrogation room. "Someone should be with you shortly."

Anna pursed her lips as they left and sank down in one of the cold metal chairs, tapping her fingers on the tabletop before wrapping her outer robe a little more closely around her. "Would it kill them to turn up the heat?" she murmured, glancing up at the ceiling. A few minutes later, a man in a Republic uniform opened the door and stepped in, sinking down on the other side of the table.

"Jedi Knight Anna Kyjjl, yes?" She gave a curt nod. Vandar had unequivocally given her back Revan's position in the Order during the ceremony on the Star Forge world, and it hadn't be argued by the Council. No matter what they thought about her and her true identity, they couldn't deny what she'd just done. "You've been a member of the Order for how long?"

Anna shifted uncomfortably on her chair. "Since just after the destruction of Taris," she replied honestly. "Previously I . . ." She cleared her throat, shifting again. "I lost my memory in the attack on the  _Endar Spire_. I was in an escape pod with then-Commander Carth Onasi and we spent a large amount of time searching for Bastila Shan on —"

"Yes. Her." His tone turned icy, and Anna raised her hand.

"You don't understand," she snapped. "Malak tortured Jedi to break them to the dark side, and she was no exception. And it didn't help that—" She swallowed, and let her hand fall. "Well, let's just say that she had a lot of pressure on herself. It's not surprising."

He arched an eyebrow. Anna leaned back in her chair, delicately crossing one leg over the other and her arms over her chest. Sensing that she wasn't willing to elaborate, he cleared his throat. "Well. Do you know what you did before you lost your memories?"

"I got my name and the fact that I was Jedi security detail off a datapad. I've got no clue."

"Well," he said, reading off his datapad. "According to the information the Jedi gave the Republic upon their initial request for the _Endar Spire_  mission, you were a spice runner out on the Rim that, during the Mandalorian Wars, ran supplies back and forth across enemy lines. Captured by the Mandalorians once, managed to break out and get a new ship. Lost a fiancé and your family on Foerost when Revan's army invaded." She kept her face blank at the first mention of Revan. "None of this is ringing a bell? Born on Deralia, lived in the Foerost shipyards? Left for dead when Revan invaded?"

She shook her head. "No," she replied quietly. The Jedi had gone so far to make her hate the Sith? It was almost impressive. "If you want to know the truth, the first thing I remember clearly is drawing Commander Onasi's gun on himself in a crummy apartment on Taris because I didn't know who or where I was."

He nodded. "As reported, then. I assume you've heard the rumors?"

"Uh . . . If they've happened since the Star Forge I've been busy getting debriefed by the Jedi. So no." The man cleared his throat and leaned forward on the table. "I'm sorry, do I even know your name? You have me at somewhat of a disadvantage."

"You wouldn't," he replied. "Captain Calman Nuiv." He held out his hand, but Anna didn't take it.

"And I take it you harass random citizens by throwing them in binders and dragging them up here?"

He chuckled. "Only if we suspect them of something."

"Yes, suspicion." Anna leaned forward on the table. "I still haven't been told what I was brought in here for."

"A very simple question, Master Jedi," he replied. "We've heard a few rumors that you aren't Anna Kyjjl. That you were a Jedi before crash-landing on Taris. And that, in fact, you aren't a Jedi at all anymore. Isn't that right,  _Revan_?"

#

The number of strings Carth had needed to pull to come and see her in detention were, frankly, a lot of trouble. He strode down the hall behind his escort, frowning. That the Republic thought they could do this was a load of bantha shit. Anna was a hero — more than that, she was still recovering from the beating she'd let Malak give her. She needed to rest. She needed  _peace_  for a few days, not having the Republic and the Jedi down her throats, waiting for one wrong move.

When he got to the holding cell the field was down. Anna was in one of the few chairs in the place, Vandar standing on the table next to it. They seemed deep in discussion, and Anna in particular looked concerned. Carth stood at the doorway, glancing at her guards awkwardly.

"Name?" one of them asked. He nodded.

"Captain Carth Onasi?"

He nodded back. "As soon as Master Vandar is done you may head in." The guard shook his head. "Don't know how so many visitors are slipping past the radar."

Vandar nodded and stood, and stepped off the table. Anna stood, but the small Jedi waved his hand and hurried out of the cell, giving Carth a curt nod as he passed. He looked up to find her eyes had lit up when she spotted him, and she gave him a broad smile.

"Hey," he said, stepping into the cell. Anna took a couple steps forward and threw her arms around his neck, pressing a series of kisses to his neck and cheek.

"Hey, flyboy," she murmured, burying her face against his chest. He wrapped her in his arms, resting his head on hers.

"Why haven't they released you yet?" he asked quietly. She didn't move, but shook her head.

"I don't know. But Vandar was telling me that rumors are flying fast."

"About you?" She nodded. Carth sighed and shook his head. "It's only the cheap journalists doing those.

"Cheap or not they're not helping," she replied, stepping away from him and starting to pace. "The galaxy doesn't want to waste time. They want to celebrate. They want to forget about the war, forget about Revan and Malak and the destruction, and these rumors aren't letting them."

"The people," he asked, quietly enough to barely be heard. "Or you?"

"Why not both? Why can't Revan just remain as dead as he is —" Carth realized she was picking her words carefully, as the conversation between herself and Vandar had likely not been monitored but theirs might be. "— and why can't I just fade into anonymity? I don't want to be a hero or famous now, Carth. I just want some quiet."

Carth stopped her pacing by gathering her back in his arms, and she responded with a quiet sight. "I just want to take a nap," she murmured into his chest, closing her eyes. "I don't understand why this has to happen."

"I don't either," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "But you'll come out of it. And everyone  _will_  move on, and everything  _will_  be fine. And maybe — well, I don't know."

"I'll likely be confined to the Temple or Jedi missions — with other Jedi — for at least six months if I make it through this, perhaps more. Until they can determine . . . well, until they make up their minds. After that, I don't even know what'll happen." She looked up at him. "What's everyone doing?"

"Mostly hanging around until you're out of this. Canderous has been hanging out in some shady bar not far from here, says he needs a break. The rest of us have mostly been on the ship or in the Temple. They've got me on office work for now."

"How's Bastila?"

He shook his head. "I haven't seen her." Anna sighed. "Vandar wouldn't tell you?"

"No. Said she was still being 'questioned.'" She huffed. "I just want out of here. This room is too damn small and you're too damn attractive."

Carth chuckled. "I'm just glad you're all right. I was worried that . . ." He sighed. "I was worried that they had more than a 'rumor' to go on and you — and the Jedi — would be brought up on treason, or worse."

"Yes, well, thank the Force that didn't happen."

One of the guards stuck his head in. "Sir, your ten minutes are over?"

Carth sighed and released her, stepping back and tilting her head so he could kiss her gently. "I'll try to see you tomorrow, if you're not out," he murmured. She nodded.

"Carth, I —" He stopped on the threshold as her quiet voice called after him. "Could I steal your jacket? It's freezing down here."

It really wasn't, and she had her over-robe, but Carth shucked his jacket and tossed it back to her. "Wear it well, gorgeous."

"I hate you," she retorted.

"Love you too, sweetheart." The forcefield closed behind him, and he glanced back to meet her eyes once before heading back for the door.

#

Vandar returned the next day, her guards noting for him that the cameras were turned off and walking out of hearing distance. This time he brought Zhar and Kavar, both masters looking grim. Anna let them take the chairs, leaning back against her wall.

"So," she started. "What's got you all looking like that?"

The trio traded a look, and Vandar nodded slightly. Kavar cleared his throat. "The official who asked that you be brought in for questioning is now informing us that the Senate is calling to judge Bastila."

"No," Anna said, before she could stop herself. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "No. This has gone too far. Bastila has been through too much to add another ordeal to it."

"We agree," Zhar said. "But there is considerable ill will between the Republic and the Jedi. We may—"

"What do I have to do?" Anna asked quietly. "If I need to tell them to keep her from this, I will."

They were quiet for a moment. Vandar finally spoke. "What is it that has made you so suddenly protective of her?"

"Nothing like what  _you're_  thinking, I'd bet," she replied, before looking away. "What happened to her, what Malak did to her, was all because of the foundations I laid. She may not blame me but what happened to her is my responsibility, and I won't let them attack her for what is essentially my fault."

The three masters traded a look before returning to her. She swallowed, and dropped onto the edge of her bed with a sigh. "So now what?" she asked. "I just call 'em in? 'Yeah, you boys are right. I'm Darth Revan, in the flesh. So what're you going to do now that you have me?'"

"There's no need for dramatics," Kavar chided.

"Who says I'm being dramatic?" Anna retorted, falling backwards onto her bed. "I'm just looking at possible execution, unless they've implemented a new 'batshit insane' Sith Lord punishment. Oh, maybe they'll leave me out on the roof of the Senate tower for the elements to kill me. Oh, or maybe they'll just push me off the roof, that'd be wonderful. Or they could always strand me somewhere on an asteroid. Or maybe —"

"That's enough," Zhar said sternly. She sat back up with a sigh.

"I mean it." She looked away. "Look. Maybe it's for the best. The Republic can have their revenge for this war and I can just fade into history like I should. Everyone will be happy. Including me."

"I wouldn't say that," Kavar said, moving to half-sit on the table. "The Jedi do need a strong member right now, no matter who it is. You are a hero, and you are very capable."

"Perhaps admitting to the inquiry and proving that you have no memory of the events, and that you have changed, will be enough. As we understand it this is a private inquiry, and that is all."

Anna nodded. "But on one condition," she replied. "You send a message back to the Senator and tell them that I will  _only_  speak to them, and I will not be recorded. Can we do that?"

"We'll try," Zhar assured her. "Have you been questioned since?"

She sighed. "It's been two days, of course I've been questioned since. They just don't seem willing to take no for an answer. It must be one hell of a piece of evidence they have. Know what it is?"

All three shook their heads, and she sighed again and lowered her head into her hands.

"I just want to sleep for the next year," she moaned.

Did no one else realize just how  _hard_  saving the galaxy was?

#

The senator who'd apparently been sold the information on Anna's actual identity was a fairly new senator from Alderaan on the Senate Investigation Committee, which explained the Senate's interest and that she was in far more trouble than they'd expected. He brought along several other members of the committee, the senators and representatives grouping around the back of the room. The senator motioned to the chair across the table as she entered, and her guards fell in next to the door. "Have a seat, master Jedi."

Anna pursed her lips and sank into the seat, leaning back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other. "You understand my terms?" she asked. "Bastila Shan is to be left alone, and the only reason any word of this leaves this room is if the Senate opts to prosecute?"

There was a general nod. Anna sighed heavily, uncrossed her legs, and leaned forward on the table. "All right. A year ago, I was on the  _Endar Spire_  over Taris. Not a Jedi, not anyone important. Just a security consultant. Between the wreck on Taris and an injury I sustained on the  _Spire_  during the initial attack, I lost what I believed to be all my memories. The ones that your Republic captain so delicately asked the first time I was questioned." She tapped her fingers on the table. "We found Bastila, escaped Taris, and made our way to Dantooine, where the Jedi took me for training. After six months I was sent out with the individuals who'd escaped with me from Taris to search for the secret to the Sith war effort. Through no way that was truly explained Bastila and I were bonded, through the Force. We had visions of the Star Maps — specifically, we had visions of Revan and Malak locating them — that were the key to finding the Forge."

She cleared her throat, and drew a circle on the table, trying not to think of the consequences for the charge they'd likely slam her with. "We went to Tatooine and Kashyyyk with no complications, and infiltrated the Academy on Korriban. Comm- _Captain_ Onasi and I simultaneously managed to locate that Star Map and undermine the Academy's workings. After that . . ." She pursed her lips. "Malak knew where we were, and sent a team to capture Carth and I on the planet. Meanwhile, our ship was returning from Dantooine and was tractored aboard Admiral Karath's flagship. Carth, Bastila and I were taken to the high security cells and tortured. We managed to escape, thanks to the actions of our companions, and we headed to the bridge to open our hangar while the others secured our ship.

"On our way to our ship Malak arrived, and he and Bastila — the latter under extreme pressure — filled me in on the reality of my identity." She swallowed, closing her eyes for a moment. Apparently her response was taking too long, and the senator cleared his throat.

"Please, continue."

"The reality is that Revan was captured, not killed," Anna continued quietly. "And that her mind — yes,  _hers_  — was badly damaged. The quick actions of Bastila Shan managed to preserve her life. Meanwhile — and all this you will need to get from the Jedi, not me — the Jedi decided to rebuild Revan's memories, creating someone who would be loyal to the Republic. They put her under the command of Shan and sent her on the  _Endar Spire_  as a security consultant.

"So yes, your information is correct. I was once Revan. But," she added, sighing. "I don't remember anything before drawing Captain Onasi's gun on him after waking up on Taris. I don't remember the Mandalorian Wars, I don't remember leading the Sith. I remember finding the Star Maps and locating the Star Forge. And . . . I know it doesn't excuse the horrific things I've done. If you opt to charge me I'll not fight it. I may even thank you for it, to be honest. As much as I may like to fade into obscurity and let Revan die on that flagship a year ago perhaps I don't deserve it."

The room as silent for a long while, and the senator finally cleared his throat. "Who else knows?"

"A few members of the Exchange through no fault of my own, which is where your information likely comes from — Force knows I crossed enough of them. The Jedi — or the Council, at least, I don't know about the lower realms of the Order. My companions. As far as I know, that's everyone who's still alive. The rest were all Sith who died either on the Forge or the world beneath it."

He nodded, making a note. "And you remember nothing."

"No. Well." She traced another circle on the table. "I remember the Forge visions, and I've had memories slowly coming through. But mostly no, I don't. And the memories I do have are jumbled, and are all little things. Personal things. Not Sithy or Jedi things."

"We'll need to question your companions, of course," he said.

"Bastila won't know anything one of the Council will not be able to tell you," Anna said defensively, lifting her head.

"That was part of our deal. Unless she opts to speak with us, we won't force her."

"Heh." Anna sat back in her chair again. "I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting that from you. But I appreciate it. Carth should know where everyone else is, he'll help you. I suspect you'll be putting me back on ice for a while?"

"Sadly, yes." He made another note. "We'll need to finish our investigation."

"Well." She nodded. "I suppose you have questions?"

He nodded, leaning forward on the table. "Many."

#

"Please state your name for the record."

The woman across from him was still deathly pale, her eyes almost back to their original gray color. Bruises were fading off her face and neck, and dark circles blackened the skin under her eyes. Her hands and voice shook with both fatigue and emotion, even when she kept her hands firmly folded in her simply-clothed lap.

"Padawan Bastila Shan," she said quietly.

"You've been reaccepted into the Jedi Order after briefly joining the Sith?"

"I have." Her voice remained quiet and shaky. "It is a probationary status, but I'm here to speak on behalf of my friend and the woman who saved me."

"Continue."

"I understand my word likely means very little, considering my recent actions. However, An—Revan is no longer what she used to be. The acts of charity and kindness she displayed, even if such acts delayed our mission or cost us credits, were something that echoed back to the Revan of the early Mandalorian Wars rather than the Revan of this war.

"I'm reminded of a time on Kashyyyk when, separated from our ship and fending for ourselves in the Shadowlands, we stumbled across the head of a droid bearing a recording that proved a man's enslavement. She sent our combat droid back to the ship and our remaining companions, to take and prove the man's predicament. Revan of the Sith would likely not concern herself with such an affair and leave the man to his fate.

"Not only that," Bastila continued, eyes still affixed on the table rather than the man interviewing her and voice still quiet. "But she never took the quick road characteristic of the Sith. On Tatooine she purchased our protocol and combat droid to translate the Sand People language and avoid what would have undoubtedly been a violent, bloody confrontation. On Kashyyyk, she sided against Czerka rather than with. And on Korriban she infiltrated the Sith academy, rather than carving her way through it."

"And Manaan?"

"I don't know," Bastila replied, the smallest hint of an emotion — this one, surprisingly, irritation and the smallest touch of sarcasm — showing in her otherwise flat voice. "I was occupied. Being  _tortured_."

He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Right."

"However, she let a . . . close friend be tortured on the  _Leviathan_ , rather than potentially reveal the goal of our mission. Even when obviously distraught by it. She has sacrificed herself in ways consistent with the Jedi since Taris. Before my capture I'd seen no sign of the Dark Lord returning, although I looked very closely for it. She is not the woman you fear."

He made a few notes with a nod, and looked back at her. "She mentioned that you were 'bonded.' How is that so?"

Bastila swallowed. "It would be difficult to describe to a non-Force user."

"Humor me."

She drew a small circle on the table, unconsciously mimicking what Anna had done during her own confession. "Our Jedi team was sent to capture Revan, if possible. If not, we were to kill her. When Malak fired on her bridge, she was badly wounded. I used the Force to stabilize her long enough for transport back to Coruscant. Saving her life created our bond, and when I began to have dreams of her memories the Council realized what had happened. When those bleed-throughs began, the Masters invented this . . . plan to reprogram her as a servant loyal to the Republic and send her out with me, in order to wheedle out whatever we could."

"And she was completely unaware of this."

"Yes. Until the  _Leviathan_."

"You are sure?"

"Positive. As I said, she showed no signs of being the Sith Lord I'd confronted in that battle."

It was a bit of a half-truth. Revan — Anna — was still as genius, as strategic, and as irrepressible as her previous self had been, but showed none of the callousness or harshness of her predecessor. And she was far from evil.

"Do you believe she will ever become Revan again?"

"It is possible for her memories to return, yes," she replied. "However, we have no idea how likely it is. She did sustain several head injuries within a brief period of time, and that will have no doubt affected any potential memory return. It seems more likely that she will recover select memories, as she supposedly has, but whether or —"

"That is not what I asked," he interrupted. "Is she a danger?"


	58. Chapter 58

It took three more days for the Republic to finish their investigation, which primarily meant interviewing Anna's companions about her conduct during the missions and their opinions. Vandar and Zhar visited her often, ensuring that she was still fine with the course of events and acting with more concern than Anna had expected. They brought Bastila once, the two talking for nearly an hour before they had needed to leave. Anna was partially grateful for the company.

The other part of her made her keep moving, pacing back and forth across the floor of her cell. She had found quickly that she was too fidgety for regular meditation — while she could meditate as other Jedi did, she would always develop a foot cramp or itch that necessitated movement. She did much better on her feet, running through the motions of a lightsaber drill or merely pacing. The movement kept her focused, more so than not moving would. And if she had ever needed to focus, this was the time.

With only her own thoughts to entertain her, she quickly began to lay out what she knew and didn't know. She knew, at this point, completely and unequivocally that she  _had_  been Revan. Individuals had recognized her as such. It hadn't been an elaborate prank. She'd had memories that could only belong to could no longer avoid that fact, or brush it aside as if it didn't exist. That was the truth, and now she'd admitted it to the Republic as well. Even being able to  _think_  of herself as Anna Kyjjl, smuggler-cum-Jedi, was slowly turning impossible. She'd never had those memories, and it was becoming far easier to  _accept_ that she was an amnesiac Sith Lord than not.

But that brought with it the thorny patch of what she had  _done_. What she had done during the Mandalorian Wars, she was able to come to terms with. She never doubted her decisions, the ones she knew of primarily because they were what people still spoke of, because she knew that the Mandalorians had needed to be stopped. It was what had happened after that she couldn't settle her stomach on. Even though she knew something had happened out past the Rim, something that had facilitated their fall to the dark side, she couldn't stomach the fact that she'd nearly destroyed the Republic.

To top it off, Malak's last words still bothered her. Something had pushed them to this, something that had made them mere pawns. That meant that  _something_  was still out there, and as she used a requested charcoal pencil to draw out what she remembered of Revan's early strategy on one cell wall things began to get a little more clear. She'd been saving important infrastructures, everything she'd need to build an army. Previously, Anna had thought that Revan was planning on using that infrastructure to conquer the Republic, but the more she examined it with Malak's words in mind the less that seemed the case.

She'd had a plan. Whatever was out there, she'd planned to take the fight to it. Revenge? It didn't seem likely, coupled with what Jolee had said he'd sensed in her during her first trip to Kashyyyk. He'd said 'resignation,' which gave her a little more hope for the reasons  _why_  she'd fallen. If she'd fallen because there was no other alternative — because whatever was out there could not be fought with scruples and morality but needed to be burnt with its own fire — then she would have resigned herself to the dark side and all the penalties that brought. She hadn't intended to conquer the Republic because it was weak and there; she'd intended to conquer it because it was weak and whatever was out there would demolish it in a single heartbeat.

The evening of the third day she had been outlining her thoughts on a datapad when the field over her door was lowered, and she looked up. "You're being released," her guard said. Anna pursed her lips and looked back at her datapad.

"I'd really much rather take the crimes against civilization charge," she said off-handedly, making another note.

"The committee doesn't agree, apparently." He made a motion, and Anna shoved her datapad into a pocket.

"All right, all right," she said, standing and following him out. Zhar was waiting for her, and nodded as she fell into step next to him. A shuttle rested quietly on the landing pad ahead of them.

"It is good to see you again," he said, once they were inside.

"Yeah," Anna replied. "Surprise, they let me off. I didn't think I was getting out of that one."

"The Republic is just as tired of this as we are." Zhar pulled the shuttle away and in the direction of the Jedi Temple. "You asked for Revan to fade into obscurity and that seems to be the direction this is heading."

Anna nodded, chewing on her lip as she watched the cityscape fly by. She toyed, initially, with running her fears of something larger past Zhar but soon opted against it. "So, what now? Do we know how the Republic knew?"

"Not yet. An insider source, most likely - but we do not know who. As for your first question: now that their hero is out, the Republic is officially declaring the war over," Zhar explained. "They are planning a celebration for tomorrow night and have asked for your presence at various events over the next several days. Some on the Council did not want to acquiesce but given the tentative relationship between the Order and the Republic, we did not want to deny them such a small thing."

"I assume my companions will be there as well?" Finally.

"Yes."

"Bastila?"

"No."

"She should be there."

"I agree. They do not."

Anna huffed slightly, but didn't bother to continue that line of thought. "Then what?"

"Most members of the Council wish to keep both of you under close surveillance for some time. It is fairly regular in cases such as Bastila's, but not so in yours. We are in unfamiliar territory, here. So for the time being, the Council is opting to keep you both confined to Temple grounds unless on specific Jedi business, which I doubt there will be any needing your attention."

She swallowed. "How long?"

"Eight months, at the least."

Anna sighed, nodding. She hadn't expected to get away without  _any_  observation, after all. But at least it was Temple grounds, and not a single room. That might have driven her insane.

As Zhar landed the shuttle on the Temple pad, Anna sighed again and looked up at the spires rising above her.  _May as well get used to seeing it._

#

The first official recognition of the end of what was already being called the Jedi Civil War, despite the inaccuracy of the name, happened two and a half weeks after the war's end. The ceremony itself was uninteresting, a broadcasting of their images and a report of the final battle — Anna had immediately captured fame from the first holoimage, despite the threatening-looking droid hovering over her shoulder. The rest of the week had been a blur of Senate and other public appearances and important functions that at least Anna, Carth, and the two Jedi were asked to attend. They always ended the same way — Anna quietly touching Carth's hand with a tired smile, then turning and obediently following whatever Council member had accompanied her. And every night he'd return to the quarters that had come with his promotion fighting his need for her.

Then came the  _real_  celebration, of course only accessible if an inordinate sum of money was paid out, on the far side of Coruscant. Far enough that they weren't returning immediately to the Temple, but rather staying in a hotel near the site. Both Anna and Carth, separately, recognized the potential opportunity to be together and separately were determined to take advantage of that.

Anna, especially, after she'd opened her hotel door and found what amounted to an army outside it, being threatened by her droid. "HK," she protested tiredly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"The Republic has asked for a very specific dress code. Even for the Jedi," a timid-looking woman at the front explained. "We're here to help you get ready."

Anna glanced at her clock. "There's six hours."

"It's a very specific dress code."

Anna looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "All right. Let's see the contraption they want me in."

She took one look at the dress box and recoiled, starting to close the door. "Absolutely not."

"Master Jedi, pl—"

"That's precisely the point! I'm a Jedi, not some frumped up doll that the Republic can parade out whenever they want!"

"The Jedi have already approved it. They—"

" _Everyone_ else is going to be in uniform! No one is expecting  _anything_  — just leave me alone, all right?"

Something stubborn glinted in the timid woman's eyes. "I can't do that, Master Jedi. I'm sorry."

#

"You look nice."

Juhani turned at Anna's sullen voice, one hand smoothing the vibrant dress she'd been "encouraged" into. Anna's was similar, though a gray-silver rather than red, and her long hair was piled on top of her head in an extravagant style - Juhani didn't know how long it had taken  _or_ how someone had managed to get her to sit still long enough to have it done. She looked extremely irritated and continually twitched, trying to cover the fresh, black lightsaber burns covering her skin — all three were visible due to the cut of the dress, especially the large one that blackened her right shoulder. Juhani had asked previously - Anna had said that two of the times Malak had dropped her shield on the Star Forge, it'd been to land on that shoulder.

"So do—"

"I look like a godsdamned doll," she snapped, trying to adjust her collar to hid the burn on her shoulder. It didn't work. "How is _anyone_  supposed to take me seriously when I look like I've been ganged up on by a bunch of adolescent females?"

"Anna. Calm yourself."

"What if something happens? I can barely  _move_  in this thing! And all I have is a knife!" She pointed between her breasts, undoubtedly at where the knife was hidden.

"What in  _hell_  are you wearing?" Jolee's voice interrupted her tirade from the doorway to the small keeping room. Anna glared at him.

"How about you ask the pretentious schuttas who put me in it?"

"Oh, it's not  _that_  bad," he replied with a chuckle. "Can't wait to see the Council's faces, though."

"I'm gonna be disowned for sure." She sank into a chair carefully, letting her head fall into her hands.

"Hi every—oh!" Mission bounded in, her own outfit far more floaty and far less revealing than the two Jedi's. "You two are gorgeous!"

Anna huffed. Juhani nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Mission."

"Z coming?" Anna asked.

"Wouldn't let him or Canderous in." Anna muttered something unpleasant.

"HK either. He's guarding my room." T3 rolled into the room, chirping happily at the newcomers. Mission patted his flat head. "Hey. Did you get 'em?"

":: _Easy_ ::."

"What'd you send him out for?" Mission asked.

"The floorplan for this building. Just in case."

Jolee shook his head. "You're really expecting something to go wrong." She shrugged.

"I like to be prepared. You never know."

Her explanation stopped as Carth walked through, deep burgundy uniform accentuating his toned structure. Anna bounced to her feet, wrapping her arms around his waist and meeting him with a gentle kiss. "You shaved," she said. "I don't like it."

Carth chuckled, holding her to him. "You look amazing," he murmured.

"I  _feel_  stupid. You, on the other hand . . . I say we just blow off this party and—"

Mission rattled off an impressive string of synonyms for "disgusting," and they laughed and stepped apart. It was just in time, as one of the event workers stepped through the door and gave them a slight bow. "They're ready for you, if you would follow me."

#

Anna found herself quickly bored, drawn away from her companions by none other than the Chancellor himself for what he undoubtedly believed to be an engaging discussion of the Republic's future and how best to rebuild with several senators, all of whom would nod politely during her comments and then promptly dismiss them. Dodging the occasional glare from Vrook and several other Council members — the Republic had clearly  _not_  run their demanded attire past the Jedi — she attempted to keep herself entertained. T3 rolled quietly by her side, giving the occasional whistle and attempting to not trip people. Reporters hung along the edges of the 'event,' waiting to her to break off from the Chancellor and get to where they could hound her privately.

Meanwhile she and Carth kept eying one another from across the room, Anna staring at the way his uniform hugged the curve of his rear and framed his broad shoulders, and Carth at how the dress they'd forced her into clung to her lean form, both making sure to keep eye contact to a minimum.

God, if two and a half weeks had caused this sort of tension, she could only imagine what her minimum eight-month confinement would do.

Finally one of the reporters spotted her as she disentangled herself from the politicians and went to locate water, T3 still rolling by her side. He cornered her as she started back, intending to seek out Mission and Juhani.

"Ra'Effan Aldamar," he said. "Coruscant News."

T3 released a short, nervous  _dwooo_  from her side. She glanced at the droid and then extended her hand. "Anna Kyjjl. But I'm sure you're aware of that."

"Quite." He seized her wrist in a vice grip, making her hiss. "I'd like to speak with you. Privately."

Anna forced a tense smile. If he was an assassin or something else of the sort, it'd be safer for everyone around to head out with him. And if he was just an overzealous journalist, it wouldn't matter.

"Lead the way," she replied tersely. Keeping his grip on her wrist, he guided her out to a deserted hallway just outside the room — everyone was too busy pretending that it was an actual party to be out of the main hall.

"So," she said, as he released her wrist and turned to face her. "Lead story, I take it?"

"You could say that." Before she could react he'd slammed her into the wall, a knife flashing into his hand. "How does 'Republic hero killed at victory function' sound? Perhaps followed by an exposition on how said Republic hero is actually the former Darth Revan?"

"You're quite well-informed," she replied. "Who sent you?"

"I don't reveal the names of my clients. Bad habit, you understand."

"You're just going to kill me. Humor a last request?"

He bared his teeth. "Let's just say that the GenoHaradan send their regards,  _Revan_."

She smiled sweetly. "Sir, even Sith assassins on Manaan couldn't kill me. Do you really want to do this?"

"Oh,  _yes_. I can retire with the contract on your head."

"Sorry," she replied, legitimately sounding sorry. "But you caught me on a good day. One where I don't feel like dying."

She snapped her hand around his wrist, slamming her opposite elbow into his forearm. His wrist snapped, earning a pained howl, and she shoved him back into the far wall. Anna threw his long knife first, pinning one shoulder to the wall behind him. Her hand used the second to delve into the front of her dress, drawing her own. He tried to kick out at her only for Anna to grab his ankle and slash the back of his knee, severing several tendons and earning another pained howl. She wiped her blade on his shirt and gently pressed it to his neck.

"Tell the GenoHaradan," she said quietly, threat inherent in her voice. "That they are to leave myself and my crew  _alone_. I am no more a threat to the Republic than you are, you blustery little mynock." She pulled his knife out of his shoulder, wiping it on his shirt as he slid down the wall with a pained grunt. "All right, off you go. If you crawl fast enough, you'll find medics before you bleed out."

Anna tucked both knives down her dress and turned on her heel, wandering back into the event she desperately wanted to escape. T3 was waiting by the door, and chirped. "Everything's all right," she replied, petting his metal head. "Let's just — ah, Chancellor."

#

"So," Carth started, attempting to not look at the woman on his arm. "You, uh, look great tonight."

Anna sighed, smoothing out a crease in her dress. "I hate politicians. And talking to politicians. And did you see the way that one admiral was  _eyeing_  me?"

He nodded, rubbing her hand from where it was settled in the crook of his arm. "Admiral Gestahl. He has a … reputation."

"Well he isn't going to add to it by bedding me," she snapped. "Besides, can I again point out how not-fine I am with the godsdamned Republic dressing me up like a doll and parading me around to these formal functions? I don't care what Senator X from Planet Y has to say about the state of their bantha milk supply. What the hell am I supposed to do about it?"

"I'd like to point out though," Carth started, studiously keeping his eyes on the hallway as they passed several Jedi. They stared after them.

"Just making sure no one jumps me on the way to my room," Anna said, waving her hand. They nodded, but they felt them staring after them until they turned a corner.

"I'd like to point out," he repeated. "That you look amazing."

"I think you said that before," she teased, leaning on him.

"Doesn't hurt to hear it again."

"And I don't look good all the time?"

He leaned in as they reached her door, lips brushing her ear. "I have a special place in my heart for you wearing  _nothing_ , to be honest."

Anna turned, pressing him back against the wall by the hotel door that she currently called home, much to the discomfort of her assassin droid. "Carth," she murmured, face tilted towards his as she ran her hands along his uniform jacket. "How long has it been since we were alone together?"

"The Forge was destroyed two and a half weeks ago," he murmured. "So … two and a half weeks."

She pulled his mouth down to hers, hungrily searching out his lips. There was nothing delicate about either it or the way he responded – he'd carried her out of the Forge nearly dead, then lost her for the two weeks that the Jedi and the Republic were harassing her, and had barely been near her in the half a week they'd been back together, too often surrounded by holovid reporters and Jedi and senators and officials. He held her to him, mussing the carefully done updo that she'd been forced to sit through that morning as his fingers tangled in the back of it. His hand clenched her hip, the silvery fabric bunching under his grip.

"It's awful public out here," he murmured, barely leaving her lips. She nodded, seizing his lips again as she fumbled with the key input. As soon as the door slipped open Carth pushed her through.

"Uncomfortable query: Master -"

"You saw nothing, HK," she replied, slamming her hand into the door's lock and locking it behind them.


	59. Chapter 59

Anna woke to the feeling of Carth's hands on her back, fingers trailing along her spine. She snuggled closer to his chest, letting a contented smile cross her face.

"Morning," he murmured, feeling her stir.

"Morning," she echoed, propping herself on her elbows and gently kissing him. She'd have to tell him about her impending confinement — it wasn't fair to him to be in the dark, after all, even though she couldn't help but be the smallest bit afraid that he wouldn't want to wait for an unknown period of time and would move on from her to someone else. She knew she was just being silly about it - she knew he loved her, and that he'd probably wait as long as necessary to hold her again, but that fear still lingered in the back of her mind. After all, she was a barely-free former Sith Lord who should be on trial for war crimes, not being celebrated and waking up in the arms of a lover the next morning.

Anna cleared her throat, opting to just get it over with. "Carth . . ." She glanced away, then looked back to meet his worried gaze. "They're keeping me in the Temple for at least eight months. Possibly more."

He nodded quietly, though his hands stilled on her back. "No way to know how long it'll be?"

"No."

Carth sighed heavily, pinching her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Well, then," he replied. "I suppose we've got a bit of time before they come to collect you."

She grinned. He'd just leaned up to kiss her when there was a hard knock at the door. Anna rolled to her feet, quickly grabbing his shed uniform and thrusting it into his arms. "Into the 'fresher. Now. Go."

After slamming the door on him, she threw the clothes she'd intended to sleep in the night before on and swung her outer robe around her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

"Master Zhar," she said quickly, ducking her head. The Twi'lek looked vaguely concerned.

"It is quite late. We have missed our original departure time once already. Are you feeling well?"

"Uh, yes, yes, I'm fine. I just must have eaten something that didn't agree with me — it kept me up most of the night. How long before we leave?"

"One hour."

"Great, I'll be there. Just want to wash up."

Zhar nodded and Anna closed the door, casting a devious look towards the 'fresher.

One hour was plenty of time.

#

Bastila barely moved when her door opened, keeping her eyes on the floor from her kneeling position. Anna sighed and bounced down onto her untouched bed.

"You know," she finally said. "The Force isn't some god you pray to for forgiveness, as far as I know."

"Aren't you expressly forbidden to see me?"

Anna shrugged. "I believe Vrook's exact turn of phrase was 'under no circumstance,' but it's been a month since you've come out of here. I wanted to check on you. I've heard you've been having problems."

Bastila's eyes flew open. "But — you shouldn't —"

"All right. Not so much 'heard' as 'realized through that damnable bond.' I wanted to help if I could."

"I don't know if you can," she replied quietly. Anna shrugged. "Even the Masters—"

"Have they really  _tried_?" Bastila sighed. "I didn't think so. What's wrong?"

She moved from the floor to her bed, sitting next to Anna and resting her head in her hands. "I'm afraid to reach for the Force. After the damage I did, it just  _haunts_ me. And then at night I see your dreams — your memories — and —"

"Well, firstly, those are  _far_  from your burden. We can't break our connection, so you must  _see_  them, but they should never weigh on you. As for the first, we stopped you before too much damage was done." Anna pursed her lips, resting her chin on her fist. "This is about what Malak did to you, isn't it? More than anything?"

She looked away, and Anna nodded and sighed. "I saw what he did to you in the Temple," she admitted. "A full week of torture, no rest, no ability to resist. But you lasted far longer than many would have. I don't even know if I could have withstood the trauma you did." Anna bit her lip and glanced away.

"Of course you would have."

"I think you greatly overestimate my chances," Anna scoffed. "But I'm glad you think so highly of me."

"I always have." At Anna's look, she shrugged. "You united the Republic, you won a war with a handful of Jedi, and you walked all way from all you'd ever known to do so. Your strength, at the least, was admirable. You were so convinced that you were right, it . . . it was inspiring."

"I never asked," Anna said hesitantly. "But why didn't you join Rev— I mean, us?"

"For one, I was fourteen." Anna nodded. Right. While it'd been the younger members of the order who'd joined her, it'd been older Padawans and younger Knights. She and Malak had barely moved out of that age themselves. "Besides, I believed in the Council, and I still believe in their decision."

She made a small sound that may have been in agreement. "While I still don't think letting the Outer Rim burn was the  _right_  decision, I believe they were  _right_." Bastila's head jerked up, and she shrugged. "Malak — and this is between us, Bastila — said that we were pawns. The Mandalorians, us, maybe even Exar Kun, I don't know. He said that I had a plan, and I've been pouring over my strategy. I'm certain I was planning for something, but I've no idea what. But I think I know where."

"The Unknown Regions."

"Exactly. Not just because that's where we fell, but because we fought hardest for control of the Rim  _without_  destroying military infrastructure. I don't know, Bastila, I could be wrong. But I suspect I'm not."

"You plan to leave. Don't you?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. I certainly don't  _plan_  to now. I hope I don't have to. Will my insatiable curiosity get the better of me? Maybe. But honestly? Right now, I'll take a nice quiet life. Maybe with Carth. If I remember something or find something in the Archives, so be it. Meanwhile, I'm not one for this mushy-gooey feelings stuff." Bastila rewarded her effort with a small smile. "So let's talk about this mental block you have. What're you afraid of, if you do reach into the Force? Judgment? A plague of angry mynocks?"

"I'm not sure," Bastila replied honestly.

"So start talking. Use what-ifs if you must."

"Well, I . . . I suppose . . . What if I touch the Force, and I see that darkness again? Or if by seeing that darkness, someone else is hurt? I—"

"All right. I have an idea." Anna interrupted her. "Take my hand."

"What?"

"Don't you start with me, Bastila Shan." She smiled weakly and took the extended hand. "Now, go ahead and reach out. I'll keep you grounded. And I want you to move that footlocker."

"What?" Her eyes snapped open. "But—"

"Just lift it a couple inches. Nothing more." Anna arched a brow. "I could always find a feather if that'd be easier."

Bastila set her jaw into a solid line. "I will be  _fine_." And with a hard grip on Anna's hand, she began to focus.

#

Five months into their enforced observation the Masters finally figured out that Bastila's rapid progress was due in no small part to Anna's interference, but said nothing as it had helped far more than anything Zhar or Vash had done. Though she stayed close to Anna whenever she emerged, she was finally seen outside her quarters.

What they did  _not_  approve of was the fact that both Anna and Bastila spent a great deal of time in the Archives, pouring over a seemingly random selection of datapads and holocrons.

Atris made it her mission, almost, to interrupt whatever they were doing. This day in particular was no different. She found them hunched over a collection of datapads in a secluded corner of the cavernous room.

"—Foerost," Anna was saying, sketching on her personal datapad. "The strategic move would have been to hit hard and fast here, here, and here. It would have completely destroyed the shipyards and the ships docked there, crippled the Republic navy, and saved time. _Instead_ , we hit the ships and turrets with ion blasts, then sent in footsoldiers to take the docks themselves."

"So you needed the shipyards, for some reason. But why? If you had the Star Forge —"

"Maybe I didn't think it'd be enough. It's possible I — oh, hello Atris." Anna noticed the fair-haired Master first, quickly switching off her datapad.

"It is  _Master_  Atris to you," she chided. "And what are you doing? Plotting to conquer the Republic again?"

Bastila, for all her insecurities, still showed far more deference than Anna. "Not at all, Master Atris, we—"

"Well, whatever you are in the process of doing, I  _will_  find out."

"Atris," Anna said, snatching back the datapad the woman had picked up. "I know of a  _very_  nice airlock I'd like to introduce you to."

"This is a prime example of you unsuitability for the Jedi Order," she snapped. Anna merely rolled her eyes.

"Do you actually  _enjoy_  being an insufferable prick, or is it just a natural condition?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused."

"What are you planning,  _Revan_?" she asked, crossing her arms.

" _Revan_  is planning nothing." Anna's smile could have frozen lava. " _Revan_  is dead.  _I_ , on the other hand, am merely examining Revan's early strategy. Why? Because I can. So leave me alone, please. Thanks." She made a shooing motion, and Atris huffed and turned on her heel. Bastila looked over once she'd left.

"You do enjoy messing with her, don't you?"

Anna shrugged. "She makes herself far too easy of a target." She switched her datapad back on. "Where were we?"

"Foerost."

"Right."

#

Vrook stuck his head into the class of children Vandar was working with, clearing his throat. "I need to speak with you."

Vandar nodded, dismissed them with a wave, and stepped onto his hover disk. "What is it you need, Master Vrook?"

"I understand why, after the incident in the Archives last week, we allowed Revan to instruct some of the older Padawans in lightsaber forms," Vrook said as they left the room and started into a hallway. "A being with genius-level intelligence does not take well to being unoccupied. Despite my reservations, I understood this. However, this is taking it too far."

"What as Anna done, Vrook?" Vandar resisted the urge to add "this time."

She had already had her confinement extended to nearly one year after what was now only referred to as the Archives Incident, where she had decided that using the Force to fetch a datacron was boring and tried to get it by hand, causing at least two thousand credits' worth of damage and ended up in the Temple medical bay for a day. Vander, Zhar, Kavar and Vash had decided that this was the direct result of a slowly weakening sanity due to boredom and opted to give her something to do. Given that lightsaber forms didn't leave much room for philosophy and she knew most, if not all, of the advanced ones, she was a perfect choice to instruct older Padawans — under the agreement that she didn't talk about the Force in any depth.

Whether it had been due to her reprogramming and the identity they'd initially programmed her with or holdovers from Revan's own philosophy, she had developed unusual opinions on the Force that she certainly hadn't gotten from them. Despite the fact that she'd been retrained as a Jedi she still saw the Force as what she described as a "sentient tool," alive but neither light or dark, merely a tool that lent itself to both sides with only the smallest guiding force — a viewpoint dangerously close to that of the Sith. She ignored most of the emotional restrictions of the Order, maintaining that strong emotions such as love and righteous anger were of little to no consequence, but the smaller emotions — rage, passion — that came with them were what needed to be guarded against. She alternated quickly between deep introspection and her (mostly typical) off-handed nature depending on who she was with. She openly disdained certain members of the Council, showing no deference to some of the members more vocally opposed to her presence. Other Jedi, for the most part, seemed to accept her back into the Order with only mild trepidation and some of the younger members were, again, showing interest in what she was saying.

A magnetic personality espousing philosophy they did not agree with . . . it was a hearkening back to the Revan of the early Mandalorian Wars.

"If we had not been so quick to exile Trista Morace, we would have far more control over her," Vandar said thoughtfully as he and Vrook made their way down a hallway. "Trista was always capable of holding Revan's ear, even when they were Padawans."

"Morace destroyed an entire culture and planet in one second. We had no other choice."

"There are always other choices, Vrook."

"Not in this case. You were not there."

"No. I was not. I was cleaning up the fallout from the Wars — it was not a decision made by the entire Council, which was also a mistake." Sufficiently chided by the diminutive Master, Vrook pursed his lips. "Now, what has Anna done this time that has you — and Atris, I assume — so concerned?"

"You will see shortly."

They stopped on the small balcony running the circumference of the training room, watching as Anna was observing two Padawans, straddling a chair and resting her hands on the back as she did. "Watch your damn guard. A blind tach with a butter knife could have gotten behind that."

Vandar  _had_  told her to watch her language, but he wasn't that concerned about it.

The one Padawan, a young Twi'lek, hung her head slightly abashedly. "I'm sorry."

"No, no." Anna sighed, waving her hand. "Do it again, and do it better. At least you're messing up here, and not in the real world. It's scary out there."

She forced a small smile and moved back into her guard, holding her double-bladed lightsaber in front of her. Her opponent, a Mirialan, prepared his own single-bladed lightsaber.

"All right. Go."

"I see nothing amiss," Vandar said quietly.

"Just . . . wait a moment. I do not doubt you will see what has us concerned."

The Twi'lek swung from a classic defensive stance, swinging her double-bladed 'saber over her head. The Mirialan blocked her swing, drawing her in until his own blade could crack down on the middle of hers, nearly fracturing the emitter. The Twi'lek leapt back and stomped the floor once.

"Haar'chak," she barked, deactivating her lightsaber. Anna sighed and stood, walking forward. Vandar and Vrook exchanged a glance.

"All right. Stomp it out." She took the lightsaber and flicked it back to life. "The problem is in your footwork. You're too tense in your knees." She moved into it, extending the lightsaber diagonally across her body. "If you protect your torso like this, it's easier to move to both attack and block. So — and Archik, be ready — if you swing forward with the top blade —" She did, arching the blade past Archik's shoulder by an inch before he could block. "— and miss, it's easier to follow through with the bottom  _without_  leaving yourself open." She did, stopping her blade inches from Archik's head. "See? I'm even quite a bit shorter than he is, but I've little trouble making sure he can't attack me. Do you understand?"

"I think so, Anna."

"Good." She deactivated her lightsaber and tossed it back, resuming her place on the chair. "Try it again. Slower, this time, Archik. This isn't a competition."

They let her continue for a little bit until she wrapped up the private instruction and dismissed the Twi'lek, turning her focus to Archik.

"That was good," they heard her say, as they came down the steps. "If you were in a real fight, you'd want to exploit the weaknesses you did. I'm impressed. There's a lot of people who would have missed most of them."

He ducked his head. "Thank you."

Anna spotted the two Masters and cleared her throat, patting the Mirialan's shoulder. "All right, off you go." He nodded and hurried out the door, and Anna turned to them. "Can I help you?"

"Are you responsible for the recent influx of Mandalorian curses sweeping through the youngest members of the Order?" Vrook immediately demanded, earning the smallest hint of an exasperated glare from Vandar. Anna sighed and picked up her outer robe, throwing it around her shoulders.

"Maybe I am. A little foul language never hurt anyone."

"It's not fitting for a member of the Jedi Order," Vandar chided.

"Look, if they picked up a word or two here or there . . . I'm sure that they don't even understand what they mean."

"Then perhaps you should watch your language around the Padawans."

"Oh, come  _on_ , Vrook," she said, rolling her eyes. "If you're that worried about their language give them one of your patented dark side lectures. They'll come around, if only to make you shut up."

Vrook sputtered for a few seconds, and it was obvious that even Vandar was taken aback. "How da—"

"Look, let me tell it to you straight." She shrugged her outer robe the rest of the way on, waving her hand towards Vrook. "Your fire-and-brimstone, dark-side-is-bad, blinking-the-wrong-way-is-the-path-to-the-dark-side lectures are  _really_ not effective, unless you're only trying to scare the living daylights out of your trainees. Because — oh,  _wait_ , that makes them  _afraid._  And isn't  _fear_  the path to the dark side as well? Good job, Vrook, you're practically  _creating_  your own little army of vulnerable, terrified kids."

"You will  _not_ speak like that to me!" Vrook snapped, disgust evident in his voice.

"Oh, go to hell," she replied. "You can't tell me I'm wrong. That approach has  _obviously_  been flawed. The logical inconsistencies themselves are atrocious. If you ever doubted your method then that should be why." She held up her hands. "But don't worry, I know you won't listen to me. So I'll just be in the Archives.  _Not_  knocking over shelves." She turned on her heel. "Extend me again if you have to. After a while you'll get sick of dealing with me."

As she disappeared, Vrook and Vandar glanced at one another. "She will only cause more problems."

"We must trust in the Force."

"You, Zhar, Vash, Dorak and Kavar are the only ones who see any further potential in her. She's nothing but trouble, she will not amount to anything, and she will only bring the Order further down. We should have stripped her of the Force and exiled her, as we suggested."

"And what would be more dangerous?" Vandar asked, looking over at him. "Revan, freed of the Force, wandering with little to no formal control? We have reports of the damage she wrought on Taris without a control of the Force — now, knowing what she does, she could easily cause more damage. The risks of Revan falling to the dark side again are low, especially if she is firmly kept in our control."

"And she obviously is not. These displays of defiance are evidence of that."

"We will confine her for another two months. That will bring her total confinement to nearly a year. I trust that will satisfy you for your current disgust with her actions?"

"It will not help! She is defiant and insolent. She does not care about our rules, or the long legacy of our Order! She will destroy us the way she nearly did as a Sith."

"Search your feelings, Vrook. This rage is not good for a Jedi Master to exhibit. Revan was always headstrong and possessed an overwhelming personality. It was what encouraged people to follow her, but it was not what made her fall. Even in defying our orders initially I had sensed no darkness in her." Vandar paused, staring at where Anna had disappeared deeper into the Temple. "She was always at risk, but something else made her fall."

"The lust for battle that the Mandalorian wars ingrained into her, perhaps."

"No. It was not the regular darkness we see in Jedi long exposed to battle. Something  _else_." Vandar pursed his lips for a moment. "Report any further misconduct to me, but I do not suspect we will have any more trouble than before. However, I suspect we will need to speak to her about these ideas pertaining to the Force before we let her leave the Temple."

"Agreed. And sooner rather than later."


	60. Chapter 60

"Nice setup you've got here."

Mission looked up from the counter as Carth entered, abruptly hanging up on her holocall. "Hey, geezer."

"So. Alavai Imports. Fancy that."

Carth was fine with the swell of pride that rose up at Mission and Zaalbar's temporarily-joint enterprise. Sooner or later he would return to Kashyyyk to serve at his father's side, but he refused to leave while still indebted to Anna or without helping his friend set up her new life. The Wookiee had been manhandling a box nearby, and clapped a furry paw on Carth's shoulder. "Hey, Z."

"Seriously," Mission replied. "Yanno, it's weird. I had this crazy idea and out of nowhere I've got people interested in selling through me, and then I'm contacted by this store owner looking to hand over his established business." She looked at Carth suspiciously. "You wouldn't have happened to mention it to anyone ..."

He shook his head. "Well, I did visit Anna last month. She may have let something slip."

"I hate you two chuba faces," she complained, while simultaneously launching herself across the counter and hugging him. "Thank you, Carth."

"Don't mention it, Mish," he replied.

"I mean it," she said. "I was just a messed up kid on Taris. I didn't think I'd be setting up shop on Coruscant, of all places. And you and Anna are the only reasons I'm here - let alone alive."

"Really." He grasped her shoulders, grinning at her. "This is what you deserve, Mish. Not whatever crap thing you thought you were headed for. You're smart, resourceful and know how to get people to do what you want. Perfect for this job."

"If you say so."

"Also the shop owner was an old friend of mine. He'd been wanting to retire for a few years now. Just happened to mention I knew a nice girl who'd be a perfect successor."

She shook her head, headtails waving slightly as she stepped back. "But I know nothing about running a business, you know."

"You're smart. You'll figure it out." Zaalbar growled in agreement.

"So," Mission said, returning to her terminal. "When's Anna getting out of Jedi Jail?"

"Heh. Not nearly soon enough. They're letting her out for the Victory Tour in a month or so, and she should be set after that. Apparently she keeps getting her time extended - this time she was chasing kids around with floating datapads. Sometimes I don't know if she's a former Sith Lord or a five year old."

Mission laughed. "I'm not sure  _she_  knows, to be honest. How are you two?"

Carth paused, feeling a little awkward about the course of the conversation, but leaned against the counter. "We're . . . well, we're fine. We haven't been able to talk about much when I've visited, since she's usually being watched by one of the Masters. I miss her though."

"We all do," Mission said comfortingly. "Need me to order anything special for -"

"Whoa." He held up his hands. "Mission-"

"I'm kidding, geezer." She chuckled. "But we've found a few stocks of Tarisian, if you want any."

Carth swallowed, shaking his head. "No, no, I think Anna's had enough Tarisian ale to last a lifetime."

Mission laughed. "Yeah, I bet she has. Funny though, no one asked me or Z if -"

"Yeah, the Republic is being . . . incredibly stupid about this," Carth explained. "I'm trying to get them to let you come along, but they've explicitly said no to Zaalbar and Canderous."

" _Not that I wanted to go_ ," Zaalbar growled.

"Not that Canderous did either," Carth replied, once Mission translated. "But you guys did just as much as we did."

"We did not. Anna kept us with the ship most of the time."

"Mission, Zaalbar saved her life on Manaan. You helped her find that Star Map, and get into the Sith academy on Korriban. Plus, both of you held the  _Hawk_  on the Star Forge, otherwise we would've come back to no ship and all died on that station."

"Okay, maybe. But Anna killed Malak and saved Bastila and you and Jolee and Juhani did things that were important and-"

"You were just as important as everyone else."

"Eh. I don't know, geezer. If you say so. I-"

"Hey. Hey Mission, you were getting an order in?"

Carth froze as a greenish Twi'lek stepped out of a back room, looking at a datapad. His eyes darted over to Mission, who waved her hand. "Yeah. Take care of it, and I've got the inventory. Zaalbar, watch him." The Wookiee grumbled and stomped back.

"Where'd he come from?"

"Griff?" Mission flicked on a monitor next to her, watching the storeroom. "Yeah, he crawled out of the durasteel a few weeks ago. Changed his name and dyed his color a little but I knew who it was. Didn't help his disguise that he got a bit simpery and asked me for credits. I told him he could work here, but I'd hand him over to the Exchange if he steps out of line or if anything goes missing."

"You know he's a slimeball."

"Well, yeah. But he's my slimeball. And I  _will_  hand him over to the Exchange if he even looks wrong at a piece of merch. Besides, Zaalbar's keeping a close eye on him and he doesn't have access to our accounts or the good stuff. I don't care if he steals a couple of medpacs."

"As long as you know what you're doing."

"I also told him I knew an assassin droid I'd send after him if anything went missing. I figured HK might need something to do."

Carth chuckled. "Yeah, he's not had much to do recently. I'm a bit worried he's getting bored."

"How's X'lor?"

"Eating me out of house and home, of course. I can't get rid of him - Anna would kill me."

Mission shook her head. "I can't believe she actually kept one of those things. I mean they're cute enough, but annoying."

"X'lor's not so bad. And he's good company, for being so clingy with Anna gone."

"I'm surprised she didn't get the Jedi to let her keep him."

"I'm sure she tried." Carth chuckled.

"And I'm sure Vrook said no."

"I'm sure." Mission glanced away from the security feed. "How's everyone else?"

"Jolee's swung by a couple of times. Tells me about all the trouble she's getting up to. It's impressive actually — apparently she nearly wrecked half of the archives once." Mission laughed. "Juhani's been out on some Jedi business for about a month. Canderous is still hanging in that crummy bar downtown."

"I'm surprised he hasn't found a new job yet."

"Something about seeing what Anna's going to be up to. He seems to think she's going to get into some sort of trouble."

"Is she?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But we've got time to figure it out." Carth paused for a second. "So, I was on my way to the Temple, I didn't know if you'd want—"

Mission's eyes lit up. "I'll close down."

#

"You know, if you keep your face like that, it'll stick."

Mission bounded up at the sound of Anna's voice echoing through the main hall, bouncing over and hugging her. Jolee grinned, patting her shoulder. "Hey, Mish," Anna said with a grin, stepping back.

"How are you doing? Are you free yet?"

She shrugged. "Got extended until the Victory Tour."

"Hopefully she can behave enough to not get it extended again," Jolee said, though he accompanied the statement with a chuckle. "Though I have to say, chasing Padawans with levitating datapads . . . that was entertaining."

"I try," she replied, nodding at Carth. "Hello, Captain Onasi."

"Jedi Anna." He nodded back, though he itched to pull her into his arms. These short, brief meetings, always in public, never left time for him to even touch her. They were so afraid of tipping off the Jedi that they wouldn't even risk a wayward glance here or there.

"Hey, Z." The Wookiee grumbled something, wrapping her in a furry arm. She laughed. "Missed you too, big guy."

"Anna, I—"

They looked over as Bastila froze, a couple datapads in her hands, and eyes wide. They hadn't seen her since the Star Forge world — she tended to stay inside when Carth was around, so it was only the Jedi who had any contact with her. Jolee scoffed at her hesitance.

"C'mon, girl. They aren't going to bite."

Bastila swallowed and took a few hesitant steps forward after a glance at Anna. "Hello, Mission, Carth," she said hesitantly. Mission took a few steps forward, hugging the young Jedi to her.

"Hi, Bastila! You're feeling better, right?"

"Much," she said, sounding rather relieved. "Just tired. I have been . . . recovering. It's a long process."

"It's not your fault, you know," Mission said.

"I keep telling her that. But she's still stubborn." Bastila managed a small smile at Anna's comment, and held up her datapad.

"Anna, when you are free, I have something for you."

"Thanks." With another glance Bastila hurried away.

"Is she doing all right?" Carth asked. Jolee and Anna traded a glance.

"It's a process," Jolee said. "Coming back from the dark side is rarely easy."

"I had it lucky," Anna added. "I just got it mind-wiped away — I don't remember what it was like. Bastila remembers everything. The power, the strength . . . she describes it as if she were drunk on it. She has to move past that, and it isn't until she stops stubbornly blaming herself that she will. I keep trying to tell her it wasn't her fault that she fell. The things Malak did to her — not many people would have been able to resist that for as long as she did. I'm doing what I can though."

"It's more than the damn Masters. Sometimes I think half of them just want to throw her somewhere and forget about her."

Anna shook her head. "It's not just her. Pretty sure Vrook and Atris are scheming something up as well about me."

"I hope not," Mission said. "You guys have been through enough."

"Well, you know how it is," Jolee said with a wry look. "A Jedi's self-disgust is never done."

Carth glanced at Anna, catching the tail end of a dark look as it crossed her face. He was struck with a sudden bout of concern.

No. He supposed it wasn't ever done.

#

The first Victory Tour was set to start on Coruscant the week prior to the one year anniversary of the Star Forge's destruction, the continue to the worlds where battles were fought that the Republic had won, or planets that they had taken in the year since, hailing the heroes of the Star Forge battle and, more specifically, the woman who had killed Malak, the Ebon Hawk docked with a Republic capital ship and drug along, her and her care placed on display.

Canderous, of course, wasn't invited. It'd fallen on Carth to tell him this, since the Jedi wouldn't let him anywhere near the Temple, but the merc had taken the news well. His actual phrasing had been "fuck the ceremonies," so Carth felt he truly didn't care. Bastila wasn't invited either, but she had told Anna she wouldn't feel comfortable there anyway. If the Republic didn't want to further acknowledge her mistakes, she was fine with that. Zaalbar wasn't either, but he offered to keep an eye on the business (and Griff) for the few weeks Mission would be gone.

It was also going to be the first time Anna had been out of the Temple in a year, not counting her brief stint in a Republic cell. She'd requested permission to bunk on the  _Hawk_ , "for old time's sake," and the Jedi had reluctantly obliged. Meanwhile, Carth had casually put in a similar request, which the Republic honored with absolutely no reluctance. After all he was getting paraded around as their recruitment poster-boy, so they'd essentially do what he wanted at the moment.

After Jolee had heard about Anna's request, he calmly addressed the Council and offered to "chaperone." Since they were (much to Jolee's chagrin) discussing making him a Master they accepted. Jolee had a feeling that Carth and Anna had quietly planned this and there was enough room between the Hawk and the capital ship for him to "conveniently" leave them to their own devices for large chunks of time, and it'd be a hell of a lot easier than if their watch guard was Vrook or someone.

So the first time nearly everyone met at the same time was on the shuttle pad to the capital ship. Mission hugged Anna, happy to finally see her after so long, and Anna returned it with a wide grin. She and Carth shared a pointed look but carefully greeted each other with nods, trying to avoid tipping the Jedi off to them. But Anna figured if the Jedi couldn't sense the tension in the air, vibrating between the two of them like a taut wire, they were likely quiet blind.

Once the shuttle had docked with the capital ship acting as, essentially, their personal ferry, one crewmember showed them to their allotted block of rooms and then to the the  _Hawk_. With Mission and Juhani going off to explore the ship, Anna slowly stepped on board the ship and ran her hand across the cold steel. Carth stepped up behind her, glancing back at Jolee.

"Well." Anna glanced over her shoulder at him. "I think I'm gonna see if I can find some food around here. This ship's gotta be better than that damn synthesizer." Jolee winked and started back into the capital ship proper. "Now, don't do anything rash while I'm gone."

"Hey," Carth murmured as he disappeared, resting his hands on Anna's waist. She grinned, leaning back against him and closing her eyes.

"Hi," she replied.

"Been a while."

"It has." She turned and stood on her toes to kiss him gently. "How have you been?"

He shrugged. "Fine. Bit bored. It's tough to go from saving the galaxy to hanging out around Republic command doing odd jobs."

She grinned wider. "'Bout as bad as being stuck in the Jedi Temple, I'd assume."

"Well, I at least had things to do." He cupped her face and gently pressed their lips together. "How bad was it?"

"It was pretty bad. I was trapped with Vrook and Atris." She crinkled her nose. He winced.

"I can imagine."

"Mm." She grinned. "But come on." Anna interlaced her fingers with his. "We've probably got some catching up to do."

#

Vrook stumbled across Jolee hanging around the bridge, openly annoying a pair of young communications techs. "And just where is your charge?" he demanded. Jolee looked up.

"Who?" he asked innocently.

"You know who I mean."

Jolee shrugged. "On the ship, of course. She wouldn't have left . . . unless she was taking a spacewalk, I assume. If that's the case, then you're more than welcome to go after her, but I'll pass."

Vrook glared at Jolee and stalked off. Jolee chuckled again, following him. He tapped a switch on his belt casually, taking a couple quick steps to catch up.

"You know they're fine, Vrook."

"We've had suspicions for some time. I cannot believe you would lea—"

"They are perfectly capable adults, I see no reason to treat them as if—"

"If R—if Anna forms attachments there is no telling—"

"She's already attached to Bastila, but I don't exactly see anyone running to break that up."

"Bastila is a special case, I—"

"And what about me or Juhani? You aren't walking around yelling at us for sticking with her most of the time."

"Jolee Bindo, I—"

"Oh, stop, Vrook. It's not as bad as you make it out to be. Besides, don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?"

"Not in this circumstance, as you know."

"You're only seeing her as fallen, Vrook. That isn't who she is anymore and you know it. You know she's changed as much as I know it."

"And what if it's an act? What if she is merely masking—"

"Are you so desperate that you'd accuse her of that? What would Vash or Kavar or Zhar say about this, Vrook? Or Vandar, for that matter?"

Vrook scowled, but didn't answer.

By then, they'd reached the airlock to the hangar holding the  _Hawk_. Vrook stormed up the ramp, almost immediately assaulted by a burst of laughter from the main hold.

Anna and Carth were sitting on the couch in the main hold, glasses of some sort of liquid in hand and feet up on the holotable. They were both laughing rather hard at this point, Anna apparently in the middle of some sort of entertaining story. Their feet were nearly touching on the table but that looked to be the only point of near contact, and both looked over as Vrook stormed in and started laughing again, despite apparently trying to get themselves under control. He stood framed in the doorway, hands on his hips, and Anna finally drew a series of sharp breaths.

"You looking for me, Master Vrook?" she panted. He frowned, judgment hard in his gaze. "What?"

"You are alone on the ship."

She glanced at Carth. "No . . . I'm not . . . But I am overage  _and_  a Jedi Knight —"

"Probationary."

"— so I suspected I was mature enough to be alone with the opposite sex for a few moments." She took a drink, glancing at Carth and shrugging. "What do you say, flyboy?"

He shrugged. "Just sitting here catching up. Trust me, Jolee, the story about her nearly wrecking the Archives is a  _lot_  better coming from the source."

Anna held up her hands. "What can I say. Vrook, if you don't mind, I don't need a babysitter and I've seen you far too much over the past year."

Vrook huffed and stormed out. Jolee waited until his footsteps had retreated off the ramp and glanced back. "I suspect I gave you enough of a warning?"

A small hint of red rose in Anna's face, but she nodded.

"Barely had her shirt off," Carth replied.

Jolee shook his head with a small smile. "I'll just be off then. Might want to tell HK to warn you if anyone's coming aboard though."

"Oh. That I will." Anna shifted, resting a foot on top of Carth's legs. "I'd prefer to  _not_  be interrupted this time."

#

"I've been thinking," Carth started. Anna raised her head from his shoulder, looking at him. They'd taken to sitting in the cockpit together, Anna in his lap as the stars in hyperspace flipped by outside the hangar forcefield. It was often the only quiet they got together, too busy being surrounded by the crew and Jedi and Republic officers.

"That sounds dangerous," she replied.

"Oh hush. It's good thinking, I promise."

She frowned. "You have that 'thinking' look on your face again. That's bad."

"I don't need this abuse." He laughed. "I'm serious, though. It's been a full year, since the Star Forge. And both of us are stationed out of – well, the Jedi aren't letting you leave the Temple very often. And they're keeping me around Coruscant now, since it's mostly peacetime . . ."

"What are you getting at, Carth?"

"Well," he said after a deep breath. "I've got all my pay for five years sitting around and you've got the money you made – and didn't report to the Jedi. I noticed – during the war and I was thinking that there are some apartments that are awfully nice near the Temple –"

Anna stared at him. "So . . . you're asking us to move in together."

"When you put it that way . . . yes, I guess."

She looked back out the window, eyes flickering as if trying to pinpoint each star.

"How much?"

"Enough." She looked back at him.

"You know how much money I have?"

Carth gave her a look. "Gorgeous, you are the most brilliant strategic mind of our time. You are beautiful, charismatic, and one of the kindest people I know no matter what you used to be. But you cannot do a lick of math."

She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder again. "You've got me there. I can save the galaxy all day long but don't you dare hand me any long division."

"So, in all seriousness, what do you say?"

Anna thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes," she said. "On one condition."

Carth's heart, which had previously resided in his stomach at the start of his line of thought, decided it was okay to resume position in his chest. "Anything."

"I need a workshop. A workshop that's just mine, so I can do things with my hands. And it needs an extra room, in case any of the crew needs a place to stay. And I'm keeping HK."

Carth nodded. "Deal."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We'll look when we get back to Coruscant after this stupid tour."

Anna grinned, nestling closer to him. "Sounds good to me. Provided the Jedi let me get away." She lifted her head and kissed his neck. "So, when we get back?"

"Yeah. When we get back."

#

"It's important for morale."

"Obviously no one is concerned for  _my_  morale," Anna retorted, staring at her reflection in the mirror of the Hawk's fresher. Carth leaned on the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"You look great."

"They pulled this last year and I hated it then. Nothing's changed." She stepped the distance towards Carth and bounced to give him a small peck on his lips. "Granted, you'd think I'd look good in a nerfherder's rags."

Carth chuckled. "True enough, gorgeous." He squeezed her hand. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Carth ... Does the Republic ever give it a rest with these stupid things?"

He shook his head. "Not for a while. Especially not after the war we just went though."

Anna stared at her reflection again. "They certainly shouldn't be inviting me," she murmured. "Bastila is twenty times the hero I am, and they ignore her completely. If it wasn't for her I'd likely still be rampaging about doing Sithy things. I nearly destroyed the Republic - still may have, if the reports are right. There's no way we'll recover."

"Are you moping again?" Jolee interrupted, suddenly appearing behind Carth. "Force, we'll all be old and gray by the time you get off this ship."

"Too late for you then," she retorted.

Jolee chuckled. "All right. Come on then, before I'm just a pile of dust on the floor, missy."

Anna sighed and stepped out of the 'fresher. Carth wrapped his arm around her waist. "Ready, gorgeous?"

"So not ready," she replied. "Let's do it anyway."


	61. Chapter 61

About a month after the end of the Victory Tour, Carth had successfully located an extremely nice apartment near the Jedi Temple, and the subterfugic period of their relationship truly began. Anna snuck out at least once a week and would simply disappear from the Temple on weekends, still reachable by comm but with her location completely untraceable. She suspected that the Council still had their suspicions but was willing to let the Council hang itself.

She'd leave the Order if she had to, part off her told herself. After all, she'd won their war for them and she'd become a so-called success story for the Jedi. Rumors flew about her identity and, while she still maintained celebrity status or possibly  _because_  she still maintained that status, they continued to persist, growing stronger with each person who claimed to notice patterns or to have information proving it.

The other part of her knew that the Jedi would imprison her before letting her wander away out of their control, for the rest of her natural life if necessary. The Jedi wasn't a life sentence for  _most_  - but for her, there was no leaving. Because more than anything she wouldn't deserve to have the only thing she actually wanted - the ability to fade herself into anonymity and live out her life quietly with a certain Republic captain.

But there were problems with living together, and one night half a month after this secretive arrangement was made demonstrated it clearly.

Carth awoke early in the morning without the comforting weight of Anna pressed against his chest, an arm suddenly flailing into the side of his face as he lay puzzled about where she might have run off to. He snapped up, carefully avoiding Anna's dream-induced fighting as he tried to pin her arms and wake her up. A second later he found himself pushed to the floor just off the bed, a shriek indicating that his efforts hadn't been successful, and he tried to consider a new course of action.

He had no previous experience with this.

Carth climbed back to his feet and seized her wrists, pulling her to a seated position. She fought as he gathered her into his arms, pressing her against his chest. "Come on, gorgeous," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her hair as she sobbed against him, occasionally trying to struggle. "It's just a dream. Come on, snap out of it."

She fell lax suddenly and he paused, waiting until she quietly stirred in his arms. "Carth?" she whispered, voice hoarse.

"Yeah, beautiful. It's me." She tried to pull away from him, but he held her still. "That was a hell of a dream you were having."

This time he let her pull away, catching the tale end of a frown as she wrapped one of the sheets around herself and slammed her hand against the shade controls, looking out over Coruscant's nightscape. "Yeah," she replied simply.

"What was it?"

"Nothing."

Carth stood, joining her at the window. "Sweetheart-"

"Stop it. It wasn't anything."

They stood in silence for a while, both of them looking over the flickering lights in the distance. The vaster cityscape of Coruscant lay beyond the tall pillars of the Temple, where lights flickered in a few of the windows. "It didn't seem like nothing," he finally said carefully, hoping it wouldn't incite a fight.

"I don't remember it," she replied.

"How can you not—"

"I don't remember it, Carth."

"You were in physical pain, Anna, it was like someone was—"

"Torturing me? Yeah, I know," she snapped. "I felt it! But that's all I remember. What part of 'it wasn't anything' didn't you get, Carth Onasi?"

"Hey." He turned to look at her, settling his hand on her back. She ducked her head, staring down at the floor. "I'm trying to help. I don't —"

"There's nothing you can do," she replied heavily. When she looked up her eyes shimmered vaguely with tears. "Nothing at all. No one can. I've been having these since the  _Leviathan_. The Jedi have tried to see what they are, Bastila's tried, everyone's tried. I just . . ." She swallowed. "The only thing I can ever remember is the planet I see, nothing like anything I'd heard of before. The planet, and the pain. Those are the only things that I ever remember. I never remember what's causing me pain, I just feel it. I wake up screaming. I can't . . . I'm sorry."

Carth pulled her against him, letting her nestle against his chest, resting his chin on top of her head. "There's nothing to be sorry about," he murmured.

Something chirped from the other side of the room, and Anna sighed heavily. "My comm," she murmured.

"Do you need to get it?

"You know I do."

Carth sighed and released her, letting her walk across the room and grab her comm, heading into the apartment's living area with the sheet still wrapped around her. He shook his head.

Damn Jedi.

They'd been trying to trace her for weeks. Granted he was surprised they hadn't been able to and part of him wondered what sort of miracles Anna and T3 were pulling off.

He pulled on a pair of pants and leaned on the bedroom's doorway, quietly eavesdropping from just outside the holocomm's line of vision. Vandar.

::— _requires your attention at the Temple immediately,_ :: the diminutive Master was saying. Anna sighed.

"I'm on my weekly sanity check, Master Vandar," she replied hesitantly.

:: _I know. But this is an issue that cannot wait. It involves the Academy on Korriban._ ::

Carth's stomach dropped to the bottom of his feet. The Academy. That was where Dustil was. What had gone wrong? Was his son all right?

Anna had gone pale. "What's happening on Korriban?"

:: _That is what we must speak to you about. Come quickly._ :: He disappeared, and Anna sighed and shook her head.

"What's happening on Korriban?" Carth asked as she brushed past him, dropping her sheet and quickly getting dressed.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out." She quickly brushed out her hair, nimbly pulling it up high on top of her head. He stepped forward and kissed her cheek.

"Hurry back, if you can?"

"If I can." She pulled her outer robe on and flipped the hood up, shadowing her face. Most people wouldn't get close enough to look under a Jedi's hood, so she wouldn't be recognized and stopped by people wanting to fawn over her. Anna bounced to kiss him lightly and hurried out, tying her belt as she went. Carth sighed, picking up the sheet and beginning to put their room in some semblance of order before going to shower, concerns — both about his son and about Anna — gnawing at his stomach.

#

Anna hurried down the hall of the Temple towards the Council Chamber, ignoring all else. Her mind was beginning to spin. What if this was a ruse, and they had actually been tracking her and found out where she was and wanted to trap her in the Temple, preventing her from seeing Carth again? What if they had just decided she wasn't controllable at all and were opting for further confinement? Possibly with, this time, actual legitimate imprisonment - no free reign of the Temple, no sentient contact, no anything. Just herself trapped alone with her thoughts and nightmares until she probably went insane and died an even more broken shell of whatever she'd once been.

Or, the logical side of her brain reminded her, there could just be a problem on Korriban.

She waited, bouncing on her toes, until Zhar opened the door for her and she hurried through. "It is good you came so quickly," the Twi'lek said as he led her into the circular room. "It is rumored that the Academy on Korriban is currently planning to pick up the pieces of your and Malak's empire."

"They are?" The gathered Masters, a few broadcasting in, looked up as they entered. "How do you know?"

"The SIS informed us that a contact inside the Academy sent them a warning," Vrook answered. "Because it was a training facility for dark Jedi the Republic was concerned about sending their troops in without Jedi assistance."

"We believed that, with your knowledge of the Academy's interior, you would be an appropriate choice to lead an offensive," Vandar explained.

"There was, of course, resistance," Vash interjected. Anna didn't need to ask who had thought it was a bad idea. "But it is our best option to avoid losing more Jedi. We are few enough as it is. If the Sith cannot launch a counteroffensive then-"

"And let me guess," Anna said dryly, crossing her arms. Plans were already running through her head - she didn't at all doubt for a second about taking the assignment. "You're also secretly hoping there's enough of Revan sitting around in my head to plan this."

From the exchanged look, that had been a factor.

Anna shrugged. "Yeah, all right. I guess it's just one more way for me to clean up my mess in the end, after all. I'll leave whenever you-"

"Shouldn't we-"

"Having you lot helping me plan will just slow me down," Anna interrupted Vrook's protest. "Besides, I already know who and what I'll want along with me for the ride."

From their look - she was getting awfully tired of those looks - she knew they had a suspicion about what she was going to say. "All right," Zhar started. "Tell us what you will require."

"My ship, firstly. I'm not going anywhere without the  _Hawk_. Carth Onasi as well - he'll fly us through any A-D guns and he's handy in a fight. Juhani as well, she needs more experience with command. Bastila needs a trip out of the Temple, and this'll probably help her get her balance back."

"Absolutely not," Vrook interrupted. "Korriban is thick with the dark side, it will only-"

"Would you rather I be with her the first time she encounters the dark side in any strength, or someone she doesn't trust?" Anna retorted. "I'll want my droids as well, but I don't think that'd be a problem. And I'll need approximately three squads of Republic soldiers and few more Jedi - doesn't matter who. Jolee might be nice. He's handy and probably getting cranky."

"We will need to see your strategy, of course," Vandar said. Anna nodded.

"Get everyone together so I only have to do it once, then. I need to make a call."

As soon as she was dismissed and told she'd be summoned shortly, Anna slipped to her room and opened her terminal, plugging in a heavily encrypted message.

When the recipient on Korriban received and translated it, he and several other students at the Academy quickly booked passage on the next freighter off-world.

#

To say that Carth was confused when he was summoned to the Temple - and a little nervous, considering that he did the same ruminating as Anna during her own trip there - would be an understatement. But when he walked into a large room full of at least three complete squads of Republic special operations soldiers, a few Jedi he didn't recognize, Jolee, Juhani, and several Council Masters, he realized that it must actually be about Korriban.

Bastila slipped in behind him, barely warranting a notice from the others. Her name had slowly started to fade in infamy over the course of the year, which he was sure she was thankful for. "Bastila."

"Carth."

"What's going on?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Is this everyone?" Anna's voice silenced them, as she wandered almost aimlessly through a door in the back. Over her shoulder hovered Canderous, looking just as threatening as usual, and the typically impassionate HK. A few of the soldiers and Jedi scowled, but didn't comment. "All right. Well, if you're here, it means you've won a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the marvelous Sith Academy on Korriban. Though to be honest it's not that nice. Either way, we're heading to clean them out. It's one of the last Sith strongholds. T3?"

The droid chirped and projected an image of the Academy's interior.

"There's two main ways in," Anna explained. "The door from the valley, and the door from the spaceport. The valley is nearly impossible to land in, as the Sith have placed multiple A-D cannons to block approach. So the best bet is a small strike team getting inside the Academy through the front door and disabling the guns, allowing the rest of the team to enter from the valley as a third holds the front, effectively cutting off escape. The first team will be myself, Bastila, Canderous, and the droids. Juhani, you'll lead the team holding the front and, Carth and Jolee, you'll head the one in the back. Carth, it's your job to make sure the ship stays away from the guns. The troopers will focus on the guards, and the Jedi on anyone with a lightsaber. If all goes as planned we won't lose a single person.

"Is anyone planning on arguing with me?" She barely paused for breath. "Good. Then we'll be leaving in the morning, sharp, standard 300. That's all, everyone's dismissed, I'll be here if you need me." As she waved her hand to dismiss them she sank down into a chair, motioning Canderous to another. Soon, it was only Jolee, Juhani, Carth and Bastila left in the room with them.

"I don't feel comfortable with this," Bastila finally said. Anna looked up from her datapad and shrugged.

"Sorry?" she replied unapologetically.

"I am not ready for combat and certainly not on Korriban, of all places. I-"

"Plan's been made, not altering it now." Anna waved her hand. "Bas, we'll talk later. Anyone else?"

"Are you sure I will be able to convince -"

"You'll be fine, Juhani. Jolee?"

He shrugged. "Nothing from me."

"Carth?"

Carth paused for a moment, flickering his eyes back and forth as if looking for surveillance. "I don't want you going in there without me."

"I need you flying the Hawk, Carth," Anna said, though she said it far more gently than she had to Bastila or Juhani. "There's one person I trust to get that ship through those guns unharmed if there's an emergency."

"But you're only taking three people into the Academy!"

"Interjection: And a highly-functioning assassination droid of elegant construction, meatbag."

Carth glared at the droid. "And two droids, but that doesn't change the fact that it's suicide! You don't think they're actually going to let you in for a chat, do you?"

"Absolutely not! We're going in with full protection and a shoot-as-soon-as-necessary policy, Carth! Besides, I didn't ask for you so we could argue. I asked for you for your myriad of skills. If you really have problems with this we can discuss it to-later." He scowled, but nodded. "Now I'd like to go over everything more in depth with all us of here, if Onasi can keep from telling me that this is a suicidal plan."

#

"You are absolutely insane!"

They'd barely made it through the door before Carth exploded. Anna sighed, dropping her bag on the floor and spinning on him, jamming her finger into his chest.

"It's an absolutely solid plan! I don't see you with any better ideas, Onasi!"

"I certainly wouldn't be taking a recovering Jedi-"

"Oh, is that what this is about? Me taking Bastila into the middle of the Sith Academy?" She threw up her hands and paced away. "Gods-damn it, I won an entire war once without your input!"

"Yeah, a few years ago when you weren't an amnesiac with a redeveloping control of the Force! You know how many people were in that Academy when we were there - why do you think they're gone?"

"Because where would they have gone?! It isn't like the Sith Empire is the Sith Empire right now! The Sith are concentrating there, this is our best shot! But someone has to get those A/D guns offline before anything can happen!"

"You're counting on them not throwing themselves at you immediately!"

"Maybe they won't! If we cut the alarms-"

"How are you going to -"

"I'm taking T3, he-"

The droid chirped awkwardly from the apartment's kitchen and hurried into the bedrooms, intent on not being involved in the argument.

"Oh, and T3 will keep everything from being done? I-"

"I'm not changing my strategy just because you object to it, Onasi!"

"Well maybe you should, Revan! Because-"

"Exactly, because I'm Revan, gods-damn it, I know what I'm doing!"

"No you don't! How can you? You've got barely any of your memories, you-"

"Having you screaming at me isn't helping!"

"I'm not sc- I'm not screaming at you! I'm enthusiastically trying to discourage-"

"In every language I know what you're doing is screaming, Carth, so you back the hell off-"

"And what happens if you get someone killed? What happens if it's Juhani or Bastila - or Jolee! What're you going to do with yourself if that happens? Huh? What if it's me?"

"No one is dying in that Academy!"

"You can't guarantee that!"

Her face darkened considerably, and she clenched her hands at her side. "Get out."

Carth crossed his arms stubbornly. "Technically you don't live here," he retorted. "You can't kick me out of my own house."

"I paid for half this place!"

"Yeah, but you can't even say you live here!"

"Fine!" she snapped, picking up her outer-robe and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I expect to see you at the landing pad in the morning, if you deign to lower yourself to my subpar attack plan. If not, I'll find another pilot who can get us through those guns. I'm sure one must exist!" She started to take a step past him, reaching her arm out towards the door. Carth grabbed her wrist and, almost naturally, Anna tossed her bag aside as he slammed her back against the wall and attacked her lips with his own.

Somehow, they always ended up like this when they fought.

#

Anna had another nightmare that night.

Their argument when they'd returned to the apartment had ended the way most their arguments did, , complete with disappearing clothes and an inability to make it out of the public areas of their home before succumbing to one another. They'd fallen asleep as usual with Anna draped over his chest, head resting just over his heart and legs intertwined.

She thrashed again during it, though it seemed far more restrained, small pathetic-sounding whimpers that he wouldn't normally expect filling their bedroom. It was that, combined with a foot landing in his stomach dangerously close to a fairly sensitive area that he'd prefer not be injured, that woke him this time.

This nightmare, he didn't have to try and wake her up. When he reached over with a quiet call of her name to shake her she threw her hand out, sending him flying off the bed and halfway across the room, landing heavily on the floor. Carth groaned, pushing himself back up as he shook his head. Ow.

"Oh gods-damn it," she snapped, suddenly appearing next to him. "Carth, Carth, I'm sorry, I . . ."

"Whatever was happening," he said, holding his temple. "You were putting up one hell of a fight." Carth lifted his hand and trailed his thumb over her cheek, catching the tail end of a tear as it worked its way down. "Hey. Stop."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking away as another tear slipped down her face. "I don't know what's wrong, or what's changed, or why I'm suddenly having these nightmares. They were never this bad."

"Hey. Stop it." He sat up, cupping her face. "Look at me." She did, eyes glistening in the early light. "We'll work through this together, all right?"

"I could have killed you. What if I shoot lightning out of my hands or throw you out the window next time? What-"

"You won't." He wrapped her in his arms as she broke into sobs, burying her face in his neck. "Because you're you, and you never would."

"But I would. And I have."

"No. Revan. Not Anna." She whimpered quietly in reply. "It'll be all right. I promise."

"What time is it?" she murmured, after they'd sat on the floor for a few minutes without speaking. Carth glanced up at the chrono.

"Nearly two."

"We should get ready to leave." He nodded. "You're still coming, right?"

Her voice was small enough there was no way for him to say no. "Of course, gorgeous."

 


	62. Chapter 62

The  _Hawk_  was escorted by a small Republic ship carrying the first and second teams, both of whom departed the ship on a pair of shuttles that landed in the Dreshdae spaceport. Anna's group, of course, went ahead first, Juhani waiting a few minutes before following.

As they crossed the desert plain between Dreshdae and the towering mountain the academy had been constructed under, Bastila grew a bit more jumpy. Anna glanced at her from the corner of her eye, keeping her hood up against the blowing sand.

"You all right?"

Bastila's grip was tight on her double lightsaber. "I will be fine," she murmured.

"As long as you aren't jumpy enough to cut off your arm," Canderous replied gruffly. "Or, more importantly, mine."

"I will be fine," she retorted. "I am just . . ."

Bastila trailed off as they approached the Academy door, a silver-armored soldier holding out his hand. "Halt. What business do you have here?"

"Who is your newest headmaster?" Anna inquired. He paused.

"That is none of your concern. What is your business here?"

"I have urgent business with him, that is why I was asking. Who replaced Uthar Wynn?"

"If you had business, you would know."

Anna sighed. "I'd really rather this not end in bloodshed, so if you'd please open the door."

His hand started for his belt — likely to sound an alarm — and Anna thrust her hand forward. He flew back into the cavern wall, armor ringing with the impact. She searched his belt for the passcard. "Just unconscious," she commented. "Juhani's team will take him into custody. I doubt we'll have a choice but we're trying to capture, not kill people. Remember that."

Canderous grunted.

"Affirmation: Yes, master. Though I must recommend bloodshed as the most expedient action."

She shook her head, and patted T3's top. "You ready, little guy?"

:: _T3 = ready_.::

Anna nodded, checked the rest of her team, and swiped the card.

#

Anna had ordered complete comm silence until the guns were down. The  _Hawk_  was just out of the range of the guns, Carth fidgeting in his seat. Jolee glanced over at him from the copilot's chair, frowning.

"Panicking won't help," he said.

"Shut up," he snapped. "I should be down there, I-"

"You're not. And you need to land the ship as soon as the guns are offline, so stop panicking."

Almost on cue, Carth's communicator chirped. Anna's voice came through, staticy but clear enough. :: _Guns - down - can land. Repeat - safe to land. Pinned - controls - as planned, over._ ::

Carth swung the ship towards the widest part just before the canyon entrance, settling it down on top of the dig-site. Sith archaeologists scattered, quickly rounded up by part of the Republic team with them. Leaving a few guards the remaining Jedi and troopers hurried up the valley canyon towards the door.

The doors were ajar, and Carth opened his comm. "Juhani, is your team in position?" Blaster fire rang through the building, echoing off its stone walls. "We'll secure the training room and the prison if your team heads for the control center and the students' quarters."

:: _My team is heading in now._ ::

"Go!" Jolee barked over his shoulder, igniting his lightsaber as he waved the couple Jedi still with them through. With a nod at Carth he started after them, almost immediately throwing a waiting student back into a wall. Fighting picked up as soon as they were inside, guards and students having rushed to secure the doors after they realized that the Academy was under attack. Fortunately T3 had managed to hack the alarms and the comms so that the resistance was disorganized, and seeing a full squad of Republic men backed by five Jedi was enough to make a number of the guards and students see sense, drop their weapons and immediately hit the floor.

::—  _problem_.:: Their comms crackled as Anna tried to get through again. :: _Got visual — strike team from — Juhani's — to quarters — surprise. Carth, Jo— from valley — will try — hold — over._ ::

"Anna, didn't read you." Carth ducked a blaster shot and fired back, sending a bolt straight through the guard's head.

:: _Said —_ :: Her statement was completely lost in static. ::— _Lord from — name, we'll try — over._ ::

"Still didn't copy!"

:: _Anna, can you—_ :: Even Juhani's reply was cut off in static. Carth grit his teeth and looked over at Jolee.

"Back-up's coming from Dreshdae. Anna's trying to change the plan." Jolee casually blocked a red lightsaber, snapped the wrist of the sixteen-year-old wielding it, and gave him a stern look. The kid meekly raised his good hand. "Sounds like they're trapped in the command center."

"We have to get there!"

"No, no, it sounds like she has something planned." Jolee glanced at the soldiers. "Secure these kids and hold this door. You all, with me." He looked back at Carth. "Stay here."

"Not on your life."

Jolee looked ready to argue, but shrugged and trotted deeper into the academy with Carth and the four other Jedi on his heels. They stopped just at the flat, central meeting room.

:: _Teams — position?_ ::

"Copy," Jolee said.

:: _Yes._ ::

:: _Hello and welcome to the Sith Academy,_ :: Anna's voice said, suddenly loud over the intercom. :: _If you're the Huttspawn backup team we passed in Dreshdae, you'll find your beautiful and incredibly clever target hacking the main archival system just off the main hall. I'm Anna Kyjjl and I'd be more than happy to meet with you personally, you slimy, lice-ridden, Bantha-whored cast-off._ ::

"She's in fine form today."

"I think I'd heard her practicing that one." Carth glanced over at Jolee, who shrugged. "A year gave her a lot of time to think up new insults, you know."

:: _Now hurry up, you filthy chakaar. I don't have all day._ ::

"What is she doing?" one of the Jedi hissed. Jolee held up his hand.

"Shush."

:: _Make — ready. Juhani — cut — escape, keep — in hallway. Jol— secure valley, keep shi—go. Distract — may have — over._ ::

"Damn this interference," Carth swore quietly.

"Shush!" Jolee reached out and snapped his hand over the man's mouth, and Carth looked up as a man shrouded in black stepped into the round, central room. They hung back in the doorway, keeping just out of sight as his head circled the room, then started towards the control center.

Anna's voice echoed over the intercom again. :: _That's right, sweet-cheeks, this hallway right here._ ::

"It's like baiting a dog," Carth murmured.

"We never said Sith had brains."

:: _Juhani, blo—exit. Trying so—expect a blood-Lord to sho-_ ::

:: _Copy._ ::

A lightsaber hissed in the hallway, loud in the silence, and Carth started to sprint up. Jolee grabbed his arm and pushed him back, motioning the other Jedi to the door. Across from them a collection of silver-armored Sith soldiers hovered in the other archway.

"Got visual on some mooks," Jolee said.

:: _Copy_.::

They were interrupted by a loud yell that both Carth and Jolee recognized, then the distant sound of two lightsabers crashing and a blaster firing.

Down the hall, Bastila slammed her hand into the door's mechanism at Anna's nod, and the woman shot off at the encroaching masked Sith. He blocked her charge as Canderous and HK fired at the ground, attempting to throw him off balance while meanwhile avoiding Anna. Bastila gripped her lightsaber, unable to see an opporuntiy to use the unwieldy double blade in the narrow hallway.

"Now!" Anna shouted, directing it past her combatant and towards the hallway's exit. There was a shout and then Juhani appeared, pinning the Sith in the hallway between them. He glanced at the both of them, then extended his hand straight up.

"Back!" Juhani barked, diving away. Anna lunged backwards, springing onto her hands and back to her feet. Dropping to one knee she held out her hand, seizing the rocks tremoring above their heads with the Force to stabilize them.

"Back in there," she barked to Bastila, who took a step back. "When I tell you to throw, throw."

"Right." Her voice shook, and Anna shot her a glare. Now was not the time for trepidation.

A rock fell ahead of her. She could hear Juhani yelling for everyone to fall away from the hallway's entrance, pulling at the Force herself to make sure the entire place wasn't about to cave in.

Anna diverted her attention, reaching out to feel for a part of the wall that wasn't holding up the entire mountain. She wrapped her focus around a section, then pulled.

"Throw!"

Bastila pushed out, and the man stumbled back to where the wall was shaking as the rocks exploded in a shower of rubble and tiny fragments, thudding into his body enough to make him lose his concentration. He went to go back to pulling the entire ceiling down, but Anna was faster. Grabbing a chunk of rock above him that had been loosened and didn't feel too weight-bearing, she focused and slammed it straight down onto him.

What followed was a tremor, as the large stone had seemed to be bearing more weight than expected, and that entire section of hallway collapsed on top of the Sith. While it had the bonus of completely taking him out, it left the small strike team in the awkward position of being completely trapped.

As the dust settled Anna hurried forward, poking at the cave-in. "Juhani!" she yelled into her comm. "Carth?" It sparked, and she dropped it. "Damn it. Bastila, try yours."

"Juhani, Jolee, Carth—"

:: _The hell just happened?_ :: Jolee's voice cut through. :: _You two — again — thinking?_ ::

"I'm afraid so. There—" Anna grabbed her comm.

"There's no other way out, you old codger. Well, there might be, so I need you to find it. Or we can start moving rocks."

:: _That'll — whole place down. Force! I— see what we — do what — can._ ::

"Think we can start moving things without the Academy caving in, T3?" Anna looked over her shoulder. The droid chirped, spun his head, then replied.

:: _Moving rocks = 68% odds structural failure. T3 = does not want Master hurt._ ::

"Can you start looking for any parts where we can poke around?" Anna studied the pile intently.

:: _T3 = will do._ ::

Bastila stepped up, glancing at Anna's eyes. Canderous clicked behind them, snapping the power cell out of his gun thoughtfully. "Also scan the plans for another way out, T3."

:: _T3 = on it._ ::

"You were taken off guard, weren't you?"

"I didn't expect there to be a Sith Lord floating around Korriban, no," she replied quietly. "Not one of any power, at least. Maybe another Uthar Wynn or somesuch but not that."

"Is he dead?"

Anna squinted at the pile. "I can't tell. Instinct says yes. But he is a Sith Lord. Either way, it doesn't matter. We've secured the facility and attempting to move those rocks could —"

:: _T3 = determined. Moving rocks = structural failure. T3 = does not recommend._ ::

"—will cause this entire place to come down. We'll have to see that one of those Sith emergency routes are still open." Anna looked over at her friend. "Why?"

"But you were taken off guard."

"Yes. And I saved more people. I —"

:: _T3 = found emergency route._ ::

"Great." Anna handed Bastila the comm and hurried off. Canderous was lifting a trapdoor, revealing a ladder and a dark passageway underneath.

"Well," he said. "Not what I was expecting this morning."

"Not what any of us were expecting, I'm afraid." Anna made to lower herself down, and Canderous stuck out a hand.

"I'll go first. No tellin' what big scary ge'hutuun are down here."

Anna pursed her lips. "I have a lightsaber."

A smile quirked the corner of Canderous' mouth. "And I've got a big-ass blaster."

"Mine's bigger," she replied sullenly.

Canderous clapped her on the shoulder with a laugh, grabbed either side of the trapdoor, and lowered himself through. "All right, princesses. We'll let the droid bring up the rear."

#

While Jolee and a few of the Jedi tried to find a second exit from the command center, Carth, Juhani and the soldiers rounded up what was left of the Academy's inhabitants and held them in the central hall. Carth called for the prison transport that had accompanied them to send teams to pick up the prisoners. He asked a few about Dustil, but they all said he'd left several days earlier with no warning and several other students.

An hour passed before the prisoners were rounded up, and then another. By now they'd found no other way out of the command center, and had lost all contact with Anna's team. Carth paced the floor worriedly as both Juhani and Jolee tried to reach out to them through the Force, with no luck.

With no warning, about another hour later, a piece of the wall suddenly exploded outward. Canderous stuck his head out, hair turned even grayer from dust and who knew what else.

"We're back," he shouted back into the tunnel, stepping out and brushing off his armor. T3 rolled out, half-chortling, then spun rapidly in an attempt to shake dust off his chassis. Carth breathed his first sigh of relief as Anna stepped out after Bastila, both Jedi's robes turned white from dust. HK followed, also coated with a whitish grime.

"Ugh," Anna said by way of greeting, lowering and shaking out her hood. Carth took a few steps forward and gripped her arms as the Jedi and few remaining soldiers began to make sure everything was collected so they too could vacate.

"You all right?" he asked quietly.

"Fine," she replied, as he caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "You?"

"Better now." He leaned down, ignoring the dust, to quickly kiss her. "Be more careful, all right?"

She pursed her lips, but her retort was interrupted by Jolee. "I'm going to beat you two with a stick," he hissed as he walked by, smacking Anna with the hilt of his lightsaber. She released a quiet 'ow' in protest.

"He's right though," she murmured. "We're being awfully reckless."

Carth stepped back with a nod. "Well, Jedi Anna, shall we head back to the ship?"

"Come on, Captain," she replied haughtily, starting towards the Valley exit.

They barely made it to the valley when they were back in front of the group, arguing once more. Bastila glanced over at Jolee from where they were hanging around the back.

"Have the Jedi seriously not noticed yet?"

Jolee huffed. "'Course they have. Part of me thinks Anna's continued urge to hide it has endeared the entire thing to them somewhat, but I doubt it. Otherwise I think they're just waiting until they need to threaten her to keep her in line."

"She's never going to —"

"Well, this  _is_  the Jedi Council," Jolee replied pointedly. "They aren't known for their incredible logic when it comes to former Sith Lords."

Bastila opened her mouth, then slowly closed it. "No, you're right of course," she replied deferentially.

"Don't start that with me, girl. Got too many memories of the big old scary Jedi Princess around to take it seriously." Jolee patted her arm, almost as if to lessen his words. She smiled weakly at him.

"Perhaps the Jedi merely do not think it a concern?" Juhani interjected, watching as Anna responded to Carth's most recent comment with an even more inventive insult and a comment about his leadership skills. She thought there may have been a double-entendre in there, but she hadn't picked it up.

Jolee merely scoffed.

#

Two weeks later Anna came home, unannounced as always, around the middle of the week. Carth had apparently been waiting for her, leaving a note saying he'd be bringing dinner and would be home late. After changing out of her robes she got comfortable on the couch, turning on an old holovid and wrapping herself up in a blanket. T3 settled at her side, her fingers idly tracing the worn streak on his flat top. "Any messages from Dustil?" she asked, nearly half-asleep. T3 replied with a positive chirp and filled her in, and she nodded drowsily.

She must have dozed off, because the next she knew there was a heaviness around her. She blinked drowsily and lifted her head, reaching out from under her blanket to pat Carth's leg. "Hey flyboy," she murmured. He must have come in and curled around her when he found her napping.

"Hey, gorgeous." He nuzzled her neck, nipping the tender flesh. She laughed, turning her head to kiss him. "Home early."

"Just a bit." Anna turned towards him, crawling onto Carth's lap and smoothing the skin on his jaw with her thumbs. "What'd you bring?"

"Your favorite." He nodded towards the table.

"Good." Anna popped back to her feet with a grin, bouncing back towards the table. Carth grinned and followed her, dropping into his own chair. She'd reached into the bag, distributing the two takeout dinners, and they ate in silence. Carth tried not to watch her, but couldn't help it. She sat with her knees tucked to her chest, feet on the chair, wolfing down her food with the same determination she used for everything else. He'd once joked that no one was going to take it from her, which had merely earned him a look.

"So, Revan, how's your week been?"

She gave him a look, but shrugged. "Been fine. Not much is going on. I have Dustil's number if you want it."

"He's alive?"

"Yeah. Of course he is." She looked up. "You?"

"They're talking about shipping me out at some point."

"They better not."

"Well . . . It'll only be for a short time, Revan, you know that."

He watched as she pursed her lips, but still didn't comment. "I don't care. I want you all to myself."

"You know you can't have that, gorgeous."

"Too bad. The Republic can deal."

He grinned, reaching over and rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. She smiled at him, finishing up her food. He wondered how much longer it was going to take her to lose it with him as she picked up their plates and headed into the kitchen.

"So, Revan—"

"Gods damn it!" she snapped from the kitchen. "Stop calling me that, Carth Onasi!"

"I can call you whatever I want," he replied.

"Oh, and what do you want to call me, then?"

Without hesitation he replied, "My wife."

There was a sudden crash inside the kitchen, and he leaned back in his chair and waited. When she finally replied, her voice was quiet and almost indistinguishable."No. I can't."

Carth stood, making his way over to the door and leaning on the frame. She was leaning heavily on the counter, staring at it. "I don't understand. Why won't you?"

"Can't," she corrected.

" _Can't_  you?"

She looked up at him, her eyes unusually shimmery. "Because I don't want to lose you. And even if I was, I could never be  _right_. You're perfect, even if you don't think you are, and what am I? I'm nothing. I'd ruin you."

"You could never do that."

"You don't know what I am." She looked away. "I don't either."

"But I do! You're Anna Kyjjl – Anna Galon –– Revan — whatever. And I'm already yours . . . and you're mine." He walked forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down to press a kiss to her neck. "I don't care if you can't commit to it, and maybe that makes me an idiot, but I don't. So as long as when I come home you're there, I'll be happy. More than happy. Whole."

"You're absolutely insane," she replied. "Not stupid. Just insane, for saying you would marry  _me,_  of all people."

"Still no, though?"

She turned in his arms, bouncing up on her toes. "Maybe someday. But I think now . . . Well." She brushed a few strands of unruly hair off his forehead. "I just think that now is a bad time. Maybe when we finally break it to the Jedi, or . . . I just —"

Carth pressed a finger over her lips, silencing her, and leaned down to kiss her. "You don't have to explain."

"But you know I'm yours. Forever. Legally recognized or not."

He grinned, boosting her back up onto the counter as he kissed her again. "I know."


	63. Chapter 63

Dustil wandered down the hallway, heading for the address his father had given him. The block of apartments was amazing — must have been where the vast amount of money Carth had likely not spent went. It was surprisingly close to the Jedi Temple, he thought, but maybe he just liked the view. After all, Carth had worked closely with several Jedi during the Jedi Civil War, it'd be understandable that he may have developed close friendships with some of them.

When he got to the address, he was surprised to see that the door was the smallest bit ajar — meaning it was unlocked. It was a safe part of Coruscant, but Dustil was still a little worried.

His relationship with his father was less than ideal, that was for sure. However, Dustil had done his research. Up until a year earlier, just before departing on the  _Endar Spire_ , Carth had put out an inquiry for him. Without fail, once a month, his name would pop up in Republic databases with an alert connected to his personal comm line. That his father hadn't stopped looking for him heightened his opinion of the man by several notches, though he still hadn't quite forgiven him for  _not_  being able to ride to his rescue. But it didn't mean he wanted to start rekindling the relationship only to have Carth killed in his own apartment. So when he heard raised voices on the other side, he started to push through the door.

"Keep it down, woman."

"Don't you shush me, Carth Onasi!"

"Keep this up, and I'll gag you."

"Promises, promises, flyboy! I don't think you've got the equipment to-"

"You know damn straight I do, sweetheart! Need me to prove it to you again?"

As he finally made it through the door, it wasn't what he'd expected.

The Jedi who had been with his father on Korriban was flat against the wall, robe hanging half-open. Carth was the person who  _had_  her against the wall, his lips seared to her neck. He stopped, staring blankly.

"Maybe I do! Maybe — shit," she snapped as she caught sight of him, nudging Carth away and quickly fixing her robe. "Dustil. Hi. Um, how are you?"

Carth, meanwhile, cleared his throat. "I told you to close the door!"

She turned back, quickly tying her robe. "Your had your hand on my ass and slammed me into the wall! I didn't have time, Carth Onasi!"

Dustil stared.

"You were the one trying to pull my pants off, Revan!" They both paused, Anna's eyes wide as she glanced back at Dustil.

"Wait . . .  _what?_ "

Anna glanced back at Carth. "Um, I'm going to go put something other than these on," she said quickly, turning and starting back towards the bedrooms. Carth cleared his throat.

"Yeah . . . that isn't the way I wanted—"

"You  _are_. You told me you weren't."

"It's complicated, we  _weren't_  the last —"

"And you called her  _Revan_? Tell me that's a joke!" He took in Carth's face. "Look, I'm just going to come back—"

"No, no, it's fine. What'd you need?"

Dustil shook his head, slowly backing towards the door. "No, seriously. I'll come back later. And, uh, try to  _not_  be doing that again, there're some things I don't need to see."

He stepped back out of the door, and Carth took a step forward. "Hey. Wait a second. Um . . . want to do dinner tomorrow?"

Dustil thought for a second, despite the fact that his mind was still whirling and he was still shellshocked from what he'd walked into. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Right. Good. Um . . . See you then."

"Right. Bye." He stepped back out into the hallway and hurried back out, trying to think. Carth swallowed and closed the door, locking it.

"Could you  _warn_  me next time?" Anna shouted from the hallway. He turned to see her standing with her hands on her hips. "I'd prefer to _not_  be interrupted by your  _son_ , of all people!"

"Hey! I didn't think he'd come  _over_  when I said I wanted to ask him something! I figured we'd get a call and —"

"Well maybe next time you shouldn't make a move when you're expecting a visitor!" She pointed at him.

"Oh, relax," Carth said, swiftly walking over and kissing the top of her head. "We just scarred him a little."

"So what did he say? About dinner?"

"Yes. So we'll—"

"All right. I have a recipe I want to try, it—"

"Anna." He stared down at her. "You know you can't cook."

"I can  _try._ But I didn't think we were going to tell him who I was."

Carth stepped back, running a hand through his hair. "It just came  _out_ , all right? I didn't—"

"Well, it's out now. It'll make holidays less awkward, I suppose." Anna echoed his movement, running her own fingers through her loose locks. "All right. Hopefully he doesn't blab, I'd hate for that to get out."

"He won't," Carth replied, rubbing her arms. "So."

Anna grinned, and stood on her toes to kiss him. "What did you say as we were coming in the door? That you were going to rip my clothing off and take me against the nearest surface?"

"Something like that."

"Well," she replied. "What are you waiting for?"

#

While he would never tell Anna this, Carth put in an order for takeout from the nearby restaurant they frequented. He'd learned quickly that she insisted on attempting to cook, despite the fact that she was absolutely rubbish at it. So it didn't surprise him when he came back to her standing in the middle of their small kitchen, sopping wet, the sprinklers shutting back off. She wasn't even bothering to swear, merely standing over the stove looking like a drowned womp rat with the most absolutely miserable expression on her face.

"Brought food, gorgeous," he said. She made a small whimpering noise. "Go ahead and get dressed. I'll clean up."

"I thought I had it this time," she said quietly.

"Yes, well . . . go on." He kissed the side of her head and nudged her towards the bedroom. "You've got an hour."

Anna nodded, heading back. T3 looked up from the corner of the kitchen and released a soft, sad  _dwooo_.

"Give me a hand?"

The droid rolled into the damp kitchen, extending his manipulator arm to grab a towel from a nearby hook. "I thought you were going to keep her from cooking."

T3 replied with a quiet beep. " _Master = hit T3 with spoon. Master + cooking utensils = very dangerous._ "

Carth chuckled and went to fetch a mop.

#

By the time Dustil got there, Anna had managed to get dressed and help finish mopping up the water in the kitchenette, the room looking as if there had never been an anti-fire action of monsoon proportions. She looked every bit the partner of a ranking Republic officer rather than a Jedi, and she'd managed to convince Carth to trade in his usual jacket for something less rancor-piss colored. Carth answered the door, and for a few seconds the two stood looking at each other, until Dustil fidgeted and Carth cleared his throat.

"Well, come on in, son," he said. Dustil nodded and walked through, Carth closing the door behind him.

Anna had shunned her robes, opting instead for a loose dress in a style currently fashionable on Coruscant. Having only ever seen her in robes Dustil thought it looked strange, but he appreciated the effort. He didn't know how he felt about his father being in a relationship, let alone with a Jedi  _or_ with one a good number of people on the holonet (and his own father) hailed as Revan.

She smiled as Carth led him into the apartment's living area, waiting somewhat awkwardly by the table. "Hi, again," she said, discomfort sounding through her voice. "I'm glad to see you escaped that business on Korriban recently."

"Yes. I received a message that the academy would be undergoing some house cleaning." From the way Carth looked at her, he hadn't known about her interference.

"Well. I went through all that trouble to save your life. I didn't want you to waste it by dying on me." She cleared her throat. "Well, shall we? I wanted to cook but . . ." She glanced, rather abashed, towards the kitchen. "This will have to suffice, I'm afraid."

"It'll be fine," Dustil said, almost apologetically. He nearly felt bad for her - she was trying so hard and it seemed to him that nothing was going entirely as she'd wanted it to. Anna smiled weakly and sank into one of the round table's chairs, encouraging the men to do so as well.

"I trust that Carth got you something you'll like?"

"It'll be fine," he repeated. She glanced at Carth, almost as if begging him to say something. He cleared his throat.

"So, Dustil," he started. "What have you been doing, since we cleared out the Academy?"

"The Republic's had me on another infiltration mission, but they just pulled me again. Seems another team's going in." He picked awkwardly at his food, not particularly looking up. "It seems the Jedi want to bring me in as well. Not so sure about that."

"I wouldn't be either," Anna murmured under her breath. Carth glanced at her.

"Well that's good. I mean. It is. I guess you've got somewhere -"

"Yes." The absolutely last thing he was going to do was move in with his father and whatever this thing was.

"Right. So. I . . ." Anna cleared her throat, glancing at Carth. "Let me get you something to drink." She stood and hurried into the kitchen, disappearing from view. Dustil leaned forward.

"Father, what the hell is going on?"

"What does it look like?" Carth replied.

"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. First you show up on Korriban and tell me that you're just working together, the next thing I know you're apparently doing far more than that! I just want some sort of idea what I'm supposed to expect. Is she just a replacement for Mother, or-"

"No." Carth's tone was close to that of a snap, but far enough away to not be. "She isn't. Dustil, I couldn't even think about anything other than your mother since the destruction of Telos, no matter how hard people tried to make me. And no one could replace her. And Anna isn't meant to. But I need her."

"So what, are you two mar-"

"Not . . . exactly. She really can't. Since she's a Jedi and -"

"About that - this isn't just -"

"No."

"All right." Dustil poked at his plate again, not looking up to see that Carth was mimicking his motion on the other side of the table.

"The bottom line is that I love her," he finally said. "She's the best thing to happen to me since your mother, and I can't abandon that. If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead somewhere and I'd have never known you were alive. We owe each other a lot, Dustil. More than I'd ever imagined."

Anna took that moment to return, handing Dustil a glass of water. "I broke the cooler," she said apologetically. "And haven't had time to fix it. So this is all we have."

Carth sighed. "What did you do this time?"

"It wasn't keeping things cold enough!" she protested, sitting back down. "And then I broke it trying to fix it, and I'm sure water got into the mechanism earlier. I'm going to have to spend all day tomorrow fixing our appliances."

Something chirped from a back room, and Carth sighed. "Damn. I should take that."

"I told you to turn your damn comm off," Anna said as he stood. Carth leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"You know the Republic, gorgeous."

"If they're sending you out I swear I will tie you to the couch," she yelled after him.

"I'll let them know," he called back.

Anna froze before she glanced back, then gave Dustil a nervous grin. "I'm sorry. I'm not too good at this family thing," she admitted. "In fact, it quite terrifies me, if I must be honest. And I'm sure you have questions. But I do love your father, and I know I'll never replace your mother. For one, I have it on good authority that she could cook without attempting to burn an entire apartment complex to the ground." Dustil managed a small smile.

"But I was under the impression that Jedi couldn't -"

"Yes. Rules made by a collection of fassa-nosed di'kut afraid of things they can't control." She finished the sentiment under her breath. "Either way, I've made sure the Jedi are unaware of this. Given my unusual circumstances, they would likely take action if they knew."

"Right. So . . . when he called you Revan-"

Anna sighed heavily, looking away slightly. "We weren't going to tell you."

"And why is that?"

"Because it doesn't matter. I don't have any memories beyond our ship crashing on Taris. I didn't even know who I was until most of the way through our mission." She glanced back towards the bedroom. "I was captured, not killed, but I'd received a nasty head wound. I still have the scar, though it's fading. The Jedi took the opportunity to push whatever remained of my old memories back and lock them down, creating an entirely new identity that was destroyed in the Endar Spire crash. So whatever I was, it isn't what I am now."

"It's not even that," Dustil interrupted. "I'm just trying to figure out how the former Darth Revan even noticed someone like my father."

She laughed. "Well, he was hard to miss as the only person around for nearly a week in enemy territory. It was an accident. We were both on the  _Spire_  and the last crew members to leave, so we shared an escape pod. He took care of me after my second head injury."

Dustil nodded. "So . . . just like that?"

"Just like that. Granted, he wasn't thrilled when he found out my identity, but I'd say it worked out in the end. You may not see it, but he is a great man." Anna glanced back towards the bedrooms, a distant look on her face. "A far better person than I am, at the least."

Dustil opened his mouth to reply - Revan was a genius and a brilliant strategist, universally admired during the Mandalorian Wars and now a hero twice over - but Carth took that moment to return. "Shipping out next month," he said. "Should only be a four-month thing. They want to check out some reports of Sith forces near Alderaan."

"All right. That isn't too bad. I'm sure I'll hear about it if anything goes wrong." Anna paused, then sighed. "Oh, Vrook is going to love the fact that I'm hanging around the Temple again."

"Have they figured anything out?"

"If they know where I go on the weekends, no one's said anything yet," she replied. "Not that they could stop me. I nearly destroyed the Temple the last time I was on lockdown."

Carth chuckled, kissing her head again as he dropped back into his seat. "I'm sure they don't want a repeat of that."

"Probably."

"Everything go all right out here while I was gone?" Carth glanced between them, and Anna shrugged.

"Dustil and I were in the process of coming to an understanding, I believe," she replied. "I was about to move into telling him amusingly embarrassing stories about you, but you returned too quickly."

Carth frowned, and Anna responded with a surprisingly girly laugh when he nudged her under the table. "I don't need this sort of abuse in front of my son."

"Oh, no, go ahead," Dustil insisted. Anna replied with a glance back at Carth and a fairly evil grin.

"Well, there was once on Korriban . . ."


	64. Chapter 64

"You're Revan, right?"

Anna barely looked up from her datapad. "Not really."

"B-but you are. I remember you. We were on Dantooine together, back before —"

"I'm sure you're well aware that I remember absolutely nothing from then, right?" But he'd made her curious, so she looked up. He was an unassuming Jedi wearing the usual robes of an archivist, several datapads in hand.

"Right. I'd heard, yes. I'm Vade. Haldus Vade."

"It's good to meet you — or meet you again, I suppose." She went back to her datapad. "Can I help you, or are you content to stand there awkwardly?"

"Oh, right. No, no, I just wanted . . . Anyway . . ." He nodded and took a few steps back. "It was good to see you again. Even if you don't—"

"Hold on. Haldus, right?"

He turned back, looking startled. "Yes?"

"You knew me on Dantooine?"

He nodded. "Back when we were in training together, yeah."

"Have a seat."

About three hours later Bastila walked into the Archives, a glass of water and a plate of food in hand. She knew that Anna tended to forget to eat if she was too particularly involved in something, and since she hadn't seen her in a while Bastila figured she hadn't been eating. She had to sidestep quickly as a brown-haired man nearly bowled her over, murmuring an apology as he passed, and she stared after him for a brief moment before making her way towards the far, discreet corner where Anna tended to carry out her research.

"Find anything new?" she asked when she reached the table, seeing her engrossed in her work. Anna shrugged, barely looking up.

"Someone came to talk to me," she said in reply. "Know a Haldus Vade?"

"He is an archivist, but I've never met him." Bastila pointedly put the plate and glass she was holding down. "Eat something, I did not come back from the dark side to babysit you."

Anna scowled up at her as Bastila sat down across the table, but pulled the plate towards herself. "So he says he knew me, when I was a student on Dantooine."

"How would I know?"

"I don't know. You know everything else."

Bastila shook her head, opting not to reply. "Carth's still not back?"

She replied with a headshake of her own. "Another two months. It's . . . tolerable."

"Merely tolerable? I expected more violent language considering your forced association with Vrook and Atris."

"It's not been so bad, I suppose."

The look Bastila gave her was a pointed one. "You are attempting to distract me with small talk." Anna opened her mouth to argue. "Don't do that to me, I know you better than you know yourself. What - you think you know."

"I have a supposition. That's all. And not one I'm particularly tempted to share."

"Anna ..."

She sighed, looking up at Bastila without moving her head. "At the end of the Great Hyperspace War, the Sith empire was all but destroyed - all but being the operative word. A number disappeared. No one knows what happened to them."

"You think they still exist, or that someone rebuilt that empire."

"I think they're rebuilding empire. The Hutts have long traded secretly with something in the Unknown Regions, and the silence from that area of space is too empty to be ... empty. Life forms should be elevating to space travel all over that sector, and are not. It's rare for someone to go in and come back out. There must be a reason for it."

"Bad charting?"

"With all the people in the galaxy with a reason to hide, why is it uncharted?"

"You believe something is actively keeping people away."

"Yes. That is the only explanation, otherwise smugglers would have the damn sector charted perfectly. Something is hiding there. Something important, something powerful, and something large. And unless there's something we've never seen before..."

"Then an empire of fallen Jedi and True Sith ... an empire of the dark side."

"That is what I'm afraid of."

"How sure are you?"

"Scholastically?" Bastila managed a smile at her friend's tone. "Not sure at all."

"What does the Force say?"

"The same thing my stomach does. That Malak and I found something out there that broke us completely to the dark side. That it was behind the Mandalorians and used us as weapons. That it's an empire of darkness just waiting to spread over everything. And that that's why I followed my instinct the first time - I cared too much for the continued existence of the Republic."

"You've thought about this a lot."

"Being away from Carth has left me more than enough time to think."

"And you're sure?"

"Not at all."

Bastila pursed her lips. "Have you gone to the Council yet?"

"And tell them what,Bastila? That I've been having some bad dreams and gut feelings that are a bit scary recently? I certainly don't think that would endear them to me any, do you?"

"Not precisely, but-"

"I need more evidence. More patterns, something more solid before I go have them shoot me down. That," she sighed, "or a particularly bad nightmare that makes it impossible to ignore it any further."

"Which is more likely?"

"Honestly? The nightmare."

Bastila shook her head, standing. "Well, I suppose I should search for more evidence then."

"Bas-"

"Shush and eat your lunch. I did not smuggle it out for it to go to waste." Bastila disappeared into the Archives, and Anna smiled and shook her head.

At least someone believed her.

#

Anna's nightmares continued for another several months, alternating between fairly quiet — no flailing, no risk to her bedmate once he'd returned from duty — and awfully violent ones, including the one that had woken her up this particular night with a bloody nose from where she'd flailed into the nightstand.

Carth, fortunately, hadn't woken up during it and she thought that was a boon as she quickly dressed and fled into the early Coruscant morning, throwing her robe around herself and hurrying through the still-busy streets with her hood drawn. Coruscant never slept, after all.

Anna knew that most of the Temple would be empty in the early morning hours, empty enough that the stares and glares from other Jedi would be much less than usual. Usually she couldn't walk a meter in before she'd clear a path through whatever small group of Jedi happened to be standing around in the main hall discussing politics or the Force, sending them to the sides of the hall to watch her suspiciously. Many of them may have considered her completely redeemed, others may have their doubts, but they constantly treated her with the same suspicion. But this early, only a few protocol droids were up and about as she made her way to the Council chambers.

Once there she, unusually, didn't bother to pause for an invitation. She'd left Carth asleep in their bed for this — she didn't have time to be interrupted with protocol. Inside only a few of the Council Masters were gathered, mostly ones she hadn't wanted to see. Of the level-headed Masters she'd been looking for only Zhar and Vandar were there (she'd been hoping Jolee might be), discussing something with Vrook, Atris, and a master whose name she'd never bothered to learn (because she must have greatly wronged him in her previous life for him to hate her as much as he did).

"Jedi Kyjjl," Vrook said as he turned. "You  _noticed_  that we—"

"There's something out there," she interrupted.

They paused and glanced at one another. Zhar cleared his throat. "You will need to further enlighten us."

"There's something out there. In the Unknown Regions." She started to pace, hands folded behind her back. "I don't know exactly what it is and I don't know how I know, but I know it's important."

They'd known about her dreams, but this was new. Vrook began to open his mouth, but Vandar held up his hand. "What is it you are seeing?"

She cleared her throat. "Just a planet. A planet covered by storms. It-it isn't much to go on but I know it's important. Something is there — something important, and something very dangerous."

"And you can't enlighten us about this threat?" Atris said, just as dismissively as Anna had expected.

"Only a little - I wish I knew more. I know it sounds insane but I think that Rev—" Anna shook her head and sighed. " _I_  thought it was very important and what if it was the catalyst for everything? My fall, my attempt to conquer the Republic — it makes  _sense_. The memories that've been returning, Malak's last words, it all makes  _sense_. It's the  _only_  thing that makes sense!"

"You are speaking in may have beens, not in knowns," Vrook chided. "We do not operate on may have beens."

"And what if whatever's out there is bad enough that it wipes out the Republic and the Jedi while everyone is weak?" She motioned out, indicating the region she was talking about. "I had a  _plan_. Look at how I attacked — I left military infrastructure and strongholds intact, especially in the Rim, I was  _planning_  for something. I was going to turn the Republic into an army. There must have been some reason for it!"

"And what are you asking for?" Vandar asked, studying her.

"I want my team and my ship and permission to go out past the Rim. I need to find out what this is. If it's as important as—"

"No." Vrook interrupted her, cutting her request short. "We will not approve your request for a Council-sponsored mission." Anna looked helplessly to Vandar, only for the small Master to shake his head sadly. "We do not have authority outside the Outer Rim and as we saw before — with  _you_ , might I add — traveling the Unknown Regions is too dangerous for both the Republic and for  _you_."

"But, I—"

"You are to cease considering any trip beyond the Outer Rim," Vrook said, sternly. Anna opened her mouth, looking helplessly at Vandar. The small Master shook his head sadly. " _If_  we find that you do, we  _will_  be forced to strip you of your rank and possibly do more. We have given you leeway and special treatment,  _Revan_ , but this is taking it much too far."

She shook her head. "I know this is there. I — I'm as sure about it as—"

"That is  _enough_!" Vrook snapped. "If you continue to press the issue we will be forced to confine you to the Temple until we see fit to release you."

"So your answer is going to be to make me sit around and  _think_  about it?!" she replied. "What if something comes in and tries to destroy us tomorrow, what then? Do we just  _politely_  ask them to leave?" She raised her hands. "'Oh, yes, hello, dreadfully large gun you have there. Would you mind not pointing it at us, please?'"

"One more word and you will be confined to the premises," Vandar repeated.

"I-" She closed her mouth with a sigh, looking away.

"You are too rash, impatient, and flighty to even consider the undertaking of such a dangerous mission, especially without a Master," Vandar said. "Your fall was the result of the damage wrought fighting the Mandalorians, nothing more. When we were salvaging your memories we determined that you had found nothing beyond the Outer Rim that would have warranted any sort of investigation."

"All you want is to climb back into violence and death," Atris chided. "You are not capable of this sort of mission."

That was enough. "Not  _capable_?" She snapped. " _I_  took down a Sith Lord, _I_  won your stupid war,  _I_  cleaned out—"

"Be quiet," Vrook replied. "If you protest again we will keep you here, and I dread to know what that would do to your relationship with your fiancé." Her jaw opened wordlessly, and she straightened up as she closed it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied. They weren't . . . well, she didn't really know what they were, to be honest. That was about the closest anyone was going to come to explaining it so she may as well accept their definition, though the fact that they _knew_ bothered her. She'd suspected they would but to actually hear it, and to actually hear someone threatening to use it against her . . .

"Do you believe we are blind?" Atris asked. "We know where it is that you go when you slip out of the Temple late at night. We know of your attachments to Captain Onasi."

"We've allowed it as a concession so far but if you continue this rash demand we will sever it," Vrook finished.

It was about then, she'd later decide, that she'd made up her mind. Her brain worked fast as always, calculating the risks and advantages of a move in seconds. It was the Revan part of her mind, the part that had analyzed strategy in a heartbeat, played speed dejarik with the Mandalorians, and carried out rash maneuvers that should never have worked. She knew something was out there, something  _bad —_ something more levels of bad than they'd seen in years. Worse than the Mandalorians, worse than  _her_. She  _knew_ it was there, and she  _knew_  she had to stop it.

But they  _were_  right. She would be a danger to everyone if she went, so she would have to go alone — perhaps taking the droids. She thought she remembered where she'd left Mandalore's mask, and with it some sort of idea of where she needed to begin looking — if that were the case, she needed to set up the next leader of the Mandalorians (and she would be lying if she didn't say she had someone in mind). But it would mean leaving everything —  _everyone_.

She steeled herself. Even before she'd thought of Carth her mind had been made up. She loved him — but if the only way to protect him would be to leave, to find what this was and stop it, she would do it in a heartbeat. She didn't want to leave him, but she would rather die saving him then watch him die because she hadn't dared.

She turned on her heel, walking back towards the cracked door. Anna reached out to brush the carved panel, and looked back over her shoulder. "Then when the Republic falls," she said quietly. "Be it in one year or in one thousand, on your own heads be it." With a sweep of her robe she left the chambers, striding towards the Temple exit as she flicked open a personal communicator.

"Canderous. You still hanging around that grimy old bar downtown?"

It took a few minutes but his gruff voice replied, :: _Where the hell else would I be?_ ::

"I'll see you in ten minutes. Don't go anywhere."

:: _I'll have some Tarisian poured for you._ ::

She scrunched up her nose. "Keep that shit to yourself, Candy. I've had enough Tarisian to last five lifetimes." Her only answer was a gruff laugh as Canderous disconnected.

Ignoring the looks from the small amount of Jedi there were to mill about the place, Anna strode out into the Coruscant morning.

#

Anna started to change, a few months before the Second Victory Tour, and Carth noticed.

She stayed out late on the nights she came home at all. She'd spend part of her weekends at home with T3 and HK in the workshop, doing something with the droids - she claimed it was 'routine maintenance,' but he thought he knew better. T3 began to go to the Temple with her, leaving him mostly alone during the week. When she was home she seemed distant, like her thoughts were far away.

So a month and a half before the Victory Tour, he was waiting for her to come home. Late, again, as she had been for months.

As Anna came in through the door and dropped her bag, he stepped out of the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe. Anna dropped into a chair with a sigh, frowning. "We need to talk," he said quietly. Anna lifted her hand out of her forehead, and he got his first good look at her in at least a month. Her eyes were dark from sleepless nights, though whether it was from lying awake thinking or being unable to sleep he didn't know.

"About what?" she replied, her voice unusually heavy.

"About what's been going on. I'm worried about you."

"Don't be. Nothing's going on."

Carth sank into a chair across from her. "Don't lie to me, gorgeous."

"Stop it," she snapped, rubbing her forehead. "Just stop! Nothing is wrong, everything is fine, I don't —" It was like a dam broke suddenly, and she slammed her hand into the arm of her chair. "I just don't, all right? Just fuck everything — the Council, the Jedi, the Republic, just everything."

He blinked. "Anna, are you all—"

"Why the hell would I be all right?" She snapped to her feet, pacing. "Because no one listens to me? Because I can't be trusted? Why would I be all right?"

"Anna, stop." He stood, grabbing her arms. "Anna, listen to me."

"No!" she barked, jerking away from him. "Because you wouldn't believe me either! Because I know something's out there and everyone is so willing to hide in the dark until one day —  _one day_ , Carth — something's going to happen that'll make my empire look like  _nothing_. And how is  _not_ listening to me in  _any_  way a good idea?"

"What are you  _talking_  about?"

Anna stared at him silently for a few seconds, then swallowed. "Something, Carth. I don't know what. I suspect but . . . I don't know. I don't know what it is that's out there, but I know it was bad enough to be behind both the Mandalorian Wars and my war. And no one will even consider that I'm  _right_ and no one will  _listen_  or take me  _seriously_  and they all just . . ." With a frustrated noise she slammed a fist into a metal wall, and Carth jumped. He'd seen her angry — hell, he'd seen her downright furious once or twice — but he'd never seen her like this. Especially not the forlorn look that crossed her face when she yelped, drawing her hand back away from the wall and holding it to her chest.

"Hey," he said quietly, rubbing her shoulder. She swallowed, turning towards him and burying her head in his chest.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, choking on her own voice. He held her to him, closing his eyes as he tucked her under his chin. "I'm just . . . I'm so frustrated. With everyone. I just . . . I just want people to listen."

"It's all right." He paused, his arms tightening around her. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

The long pause before she answered was enough. "No," she replied quietly. "Never."

"That's a terrible lie."

"I'm not going to leave you, Carth." She took a step back, affixing him with a serious look. "Not now, not ever. I promise."

"Don't lie to me. Don't. I know you, sweetheart."

"Carth." This time it was her turn to grab his shoulders, looking up at him with wide, honest eyes. "Carth, I'm  _not_  going to leave. Not now, not ever. This is where I want to be, my love."

He drew her back in his arms, holding her tight against his chest. "You swear it?"

The long pause told him everything he needed to know. "Yeah," she replied quietly, voice muffled by his chest. Anna looked up, taking a step back. "I, ah, I'm going to head to bed." Her voice kept its quiet tone. "Coming?"

"Yeah, I'll . . . I'll be right there."

She nodded with a heavy sigh, turning and walking towards the bedrooms, slinging her outer-robe over a chair. He sighed, and stuck out his foot to stop T3 as the droid tried to roll by. "Hey, T3."

" _Captain = need something?_ "

"Yeah." He knelt down and looked at the droid intently, running his fingers over his top. T3 chirped worriedly. "Look. I know she's getting ready to leave."

" _T3 = don't know._ "

"You're a terrible liar." T3 ducked his head and released a soft, abashed  _dwoo_. "But she might take you. And if she does, I need you to do something for me."

Carth relayed his instructions then stood, patting the droid on his head and starting back towards their room. T3 watched him leave, lowering his head slightly with a quiet, dejected chirp.

"Speculation: I suspect that the whiny meatbag just gave you orders to waylay our master. Am I correct?"

T3 turned his head towards HK as he emerged from Anna's workshop, looking newly oiled. " _HK-57 - speech = good._ "

"Condescending retort: I am not interested in your weak attempts at condescension, Astromech. Demand: Inform me as to the whiny meatbag's orders, or one of us will leave here with less functioning circuits."

" _T3 - answer to you._ "

"Implicit threat: Tell me, or —" T3 stuck out his shock arm and fired. HK stepped to the side. "Retort: I am not that unobservant. Tell me, or —"

" _HK = shut off vocabulator. Shutdown = now._ "

"Observation: You truly believe you could stop me from extracting the data from you. I—"

HK missed T3 extending his shock arm a second time, sending a jolt through the other droid. HK's orange eyes flickered with the telltale sign of a hard reboot. "Diagnostic: Running . . ."

T3 made a rude noise at the assassin droid and rolled into one of the back bedrooms.

#

Carth wasn't sure what strings Anna had needed to pull, but Canderous, Bastila, and Zaalbar were all invited on the next manifestation of the Victory Tour. They met them at the shuttle that was supposed to take the crew and the members of the Council accompanying them, Jolee and Juhani looking just as surprised to see the others as Carth was. He would notice, in hindsight, that Bastila didn't look a bit surprised, but hindsight was so often much clearer than everything else, after all.

He knew something was wrong - something had to be. Anna had become even more distant - over the past month their fights had less often ended in bed and more often ended with her leaving for the Temple. She was knowingly driving him away, and it bothered him primarily because he was no so easily deterred and she should know that.

Carth was even more suspicious because a week before the tour, she'd almost immediately snapped back. She'd come home every night of the week, for one - the first night apologizing for being what she'd called a "raging hutuun" and seeming completely back to normal, though it was an act he didn't completely buy. But he'd let happiness blind him for the time being.

So when she held his hand on the shuttle pad, their fingers casually interlaced like there was nothing strange about it at all despite being in front of half the Council, Carth didn't question it.

If she was leaving, if his gut was right, he wasn't going to push her away before she did.

If she was leaving, he was damn sure going to make it the hardest thing she ever did.


	65. Chapter 65

Anna had to admit she hated these things.

They'd only happened twice so far but both the First and the Second tours were the same - they were be shuttled around the galaxy and she put her nice set of robes back on and the ceremonial outer-robe the Jedi lent her and waved to crowds, then spent the rest of the month in evening wear getting chatted up by Republic officers who liked the Jedi's "no attachments" policy and discussing politics with ambassadors that truly only wanted to be seen with the most recent Galactic Hero. And the Jedi would be keeping a closer eye on her — so close that any chance of her sneaking off to a dark corner with her favorite pilot was impossible. Not that they didn't keep watch on her already, but they didn't insist on posting guards outside her door in the Temple which made sneaking out to the apartment she shared with Carth very easy. On the ships, however . . .

The nightmares continued, though she hid them better. She knew Carth knew, from the way he poured her an extra cup of caffa in the morning, and she suspected he knew something about her plan in general as well from the way he refused to let her out of his sight. She was content to let him cling to her since she knew their time together was quickly getting even shorter. But she knew that it would only make leaving him that much more difficult.

And now it was two years to the  _day_  since the Star Forge had been destroyed, two weeks after the start of the tour.

She quietly laced the mended verpine mesh vest that Carth had bought her on their way to the Star Forge over her usual Jedi robes, lightsabers lending a comforting weight against her thighs. Another slow, quiet motion pulled her beat up bag, stocked with anything she hadn't left on the  _Hawk_ and might need, over her shoulder. She pulled the key card for the  _Hawk_ 's airlock out of Carth's pants pocket, quickly discarded the previous night, before leaning over the sleeping soldier. She brushed his lips with hers, running her fingers over the arch of his cheek with just enough pressure to feel his skin under them, memorizing the feel of his lips and the heat of his skin as he slept, sliding the smallest encouragement into his mind to stay asleep until they were gone.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I hope you'll never have to understand." She rested a datapad on her abandoned pillow, the light flickering with an alert. Anna reached for his bright orange flight jacket before thinking about it, paused, then swung it over her shoulder.

She would need something to cling to when her nightmares inevitably returned.

She moved down their block of rooms, quietly hanging a datapad on each door. Canderous waited by his, tapping his foot. Their Republic honor guards lay in a pile, unconscious, at one end of the hallway.

"You ready?" he asked, eying the jacket over her shoulder. She huffed and adjusted it.

"The droids are on the ship and I've left messages with everyone." She glanced back down the block of rooms and nodded. "Yeah. If we're going to do this, let's go."

When Anna glanced back again, Bastila had quietly stuck her head out of her door. Anna nodded, and the woman responded in kind before quietly slipping out of her room and locking the door. Canderous nodded to Bastila and fell into step next to Anna as she turned on her heel, and the trio slipped towards the  _Ebon Hawk_ 's dock.

#

It was early in the morning when Carth awoke, almost as if startled. Something wasn't right, there . . . Anna was missing. He was so used to her presence that its absence stuck him like a thrown rock, and he rolled towards the only other place she would be.

All that met him was a datapad, flickering with an alert.

The amount of profanity he released as he rushed to dress, hampered by the fact that she had thrown his clothes all over the small room the night befor— damn, had she even planned for  _that_  — was impressive, made even more so by his discovery that the key card for the _Hawk_  was missing. He grabbed the datapad and sprinted from the room into the quiet halls of the  _Sojourn_.

Damn it, he should have  _known_. He should have  _sensed_ that something was different that night, that she was being too quiet and gentle and  _wanting_ all at the same time. He  _knew_  her better than to have fallen for that —

Their honor guard was waking up at the far end of the hallway, but he didn't stop to check on them. He couldn't know when they'd left, and he still might have had a chance to make it to the hangar before she disappeared.

Once at the appropriate deck, and ignoring the strange looks he was receiving, he bypassed the hanger door completely and headed for the control room. If they hadn't left, if he still had a chance to not let the techs open the blast doors . . . maybe he could convince her to take him, to not leave him behind . . .

When he burst into the control room, it was in time to catch one last look at the front of the Hawk, slowly backing its way out of the hangar. "Stop the ship!" he ordered, barely glancing at the tech at the controls. "You can't let them leave!"

"I'm sorry, Carth."

He froze, watching the ship turn and blast into the darkness of space, catching one last look as the engines flared before the ship leapt into hyperspace.

"You knew about this?!"

Bastila stared at the panel, though her shoulders slumped slightly at the pain bleeding through his voice. "This has been planned for some time," she said quietly.

"Well, where is she going? Where can I find her, how can I contact her? Bastila—"

"I don't know. I don't even believe she knows."

"Well how can she — and Canderous, I—"

"Oh stop that," she snapped, and Carth didn't have to question the 'that'. "You know she did not leave with him for those reasons. He does not know it yet but he is only a temporary passenger. She remembers the location of Mandalore's Mask, and she intends to make him the new Mandalore."

"For what bloody purpose? And why couldn't — why is she going alone?!"

"Do you think I'm  _happy_  about this, Carth Onasi?" Bastila snapped. "Do you truly think I would not rather be following her into certain danger again? Force, I would give  _anything_  for that rather than being stuck here  _alone_! And perhaps before you interrogate me for the appropriate answers you should ask the source!"

"I would," he snapped. "If she wasn't in fucking hyperspace now!"

Bastila blinked. "I meant the datapad, you idiot. Meanwhile, I must go prepare myself for my eventual dressing-down when the Council learns she's fled." She walked to the door, leaving Carth staring at the datapad in his hands. "You understand she left because she felt she must, and did it this way for the same reason. Forcing the issue through legitimate channels would have meant indefinite imprisonment in the Temple, and that she loved you too much to do that to you — to be within reach, but unreachable."

With that, she left, footsteps fading on the durasteel floor as she closed the door behind her. Carth swallowed heavily, then looked down at the datapad still held in his trembling hands and turned it on.

#

They all gathered in the hangar control room that morning, staring at the empty spot where the  _Hawk_  had sat just hours earlier.

"She can't just  _leave_ ," Mission protested.

"Well, she can," Jolee replied. "And she did. I wonder why, though."

"We could ask Bastila, but she has locked herself in her room," Juhani said quietly. "Why would she not take us with her?"

"Have you listened to your data pads?" Carth asked. There were a few nods and head shakes. "She's worried because she 'can't take anyone with her.'"

"Which is a load of poodoo," Mission snapped. "We'd go anywhere with her, and she knows it."

Jolee held up his hand. "Maybe we should slow down. There's got to be a reason she can't take anyone with her. Think about it, if she's going somewhere she considers too dangerous, we're a liability. If she's going into hostile territory what's the one thing you don't want to have with you?"

"Someone whose safety would concern you," Juhani said quietly, after the briefest moment of thought.

"Exactly. If she were going after something dangerous, would she truly want any of us with her? If she knew there was a likelihood of her mission being compromised by it?"

"Then why take Canderous?" Mission protested.

"Bastila said he wouldn't be there long," Carth said. "It sounded as if she was going completely alone with only the droids and the ship after doing whatever she had to do with him."

"This doesn't make any sense. It doesn't sound like her." She looked at Carth. "Did she say why? Did you know —"

Carth looked away and drew a deep breath, then frowned. "I suspected this for a while."

"You didn't say anything?"

"What was I going to say, that I thought she was going to run off on us? That I thought I wouldn't be enough to hold her here? That she hadn't been herself? I was afraid the Jedi would find out and lock her up again! I didn't know how she would react and did you know it's _dreadfully_  hard to live with a shellshocked Jedi?"

Jolee pursed his lips. "Considering that Juhani and I currently live in what is essentially a small city of shellshocked Jedi, yes. But I suspect it was much worse than her. I'd heard about the dreams she'd been having but I wasn't aware they'd gotten worse."

"We had all  _heard_ about the dreams she'd been having," Juhani said pointedly. "More or less. But would they be bad enough to —"

"She nearly pushed me out a wall once," Carth said ruefully. "Whatever she was fighting . . . She was putting up a hell of a fight."

"Hm." Jolee sighed. "I'm sure she has her reasons. Unfortunately we'll need to trust that she isn't thinking without a brain again - this is Revan we are talking about. Brilliant but a bit rash, after all."

"It's not Revan. It's Anna."

"The strategic part of her mind has always been intact. It's that part the Jedi used, after all." He sighed and shook his head. "All right, Juhani, let's go do our civic duty and tell the Jedi."

The two Jedi turned on their heels and headed back into the ship. Mission looked over at Carth and carefully rested a hand on his arm. "You going to be all right?" she asked gently.

Carth replied with a tense, weak smile. "I need to inform Republic Command," he said quietly. "Tell them the Victory Tour is off."

Mission watched as he walked away, and looked up at Zaalbar. "You all right, big guy?"

Zaalbar shrugged. " _I suspect Anna did what she believed was right, and we must both trust and honor that decision._ "

"What about your life debt?" He held up the datapad. "She cancelled it?"

" _She did. I am free to help you and my people as I desire._ " He shook his head. " _I don't like it._ "

Mission sighed and patted his arm. "Neither do I, Big Z."

#

Bastila opened her door at the loud tap, not at all surprised to see Vrook, Atris, Vandar and Zhar outside. "Masters."

"We need to talk," Vandar said quietly.

"I suppose we do." She stepped aside and let them into her small shipboard quarters. All four noted that she apparently had been neither sleeping nor using her bed at all. She closed the door behind them. "I assume that, by now, you have learned of Revan's disappearance."

"We have learned of your complacency in it," Zhar said. "You should have informed us."

"And had you stop and imprison her?" Bastila asked. "All because you were afraid of her being right?"

"You have been talking with her far too much," Vrook snapped. "We should never have let her aid in your recovery."

Bastila raised her head, staring at the far older Master. "I did what I believed was right. A far greater Jedi than  _you_  gave me that advice once, as her way of staying with the light and it has done far more than  _your_  teachings of fear ever did."

"Vrook, Bastila," Vandar interrupted when Vrook spluttered slightly. "How would you have intended to stop her, Vrook? Would you have been content to trap a time bomb in the Jedi Temple until it exploded? We knew this was eventually what would occur, and it is not Bastila's fault."

"She is capable of taking blame for her own actions," Atris replied.

"And I am," Bastila replied. " _I_  was not  _misled_  by her the way Jedi were. I saw what she saw, and I've seen what she sees of her nightmares. I  _know_  she is right. I  _know_  something dark is out there, waiting for the right moment to strike. I  _know_  that sitting around consulting one another about it would do nothing and  _I_  opted to  _help_  her act. She will not fall again, I know it, no matter what awaits her, and I feel you know she has some greater role in this galaxy to play than the one she already has. For you to impede her in that manner, for you to threaten to use her relationship with Captain Onasi to control her —"

"And if you feel so strongly, why did you not accompany her?"

Bastila's calm wavered for the smallest moment at Zhar's question, but she fought to hold onto it. "She would not take anyone she cared for," she replied quietly. "Even the Mandalorian will be left, though he does not realize it yet. She did what she needed to do to fulfill her true role as a Jedi - protecting the galaxy, no matter the personal cost."

"Let me speak with Bastila alone," Zhar said, glancing at the other three masters. Vrook and Atris looked prepared to argue, but Vandar's nod overruled them and they stepped out. "Bastila, you understand the cost of this?"

She nodded, dipping her gaze to the floor. "I am sure I will not escape unscathed, but I admit I'd grown used to being separated out from the Jedi after my fall anyway. I am willing to accept whatever you deem necessary for letting the woman you still consider a danger 'escape' from your so-benevolent care." Zhar made a disgruntled noise. "She will be stripped of her rank in the Order and arrested or killed if she is ever seen in Republic space again. We both knew the cost going into this, Master Zhar, and I will not apologize for my actions. I would have served a greater evil by keeping her from carrying out her duty. And we both know that neither I nor anyone else, save perhaps Captain Onasi, could have prevented her from leaving."

"I know. And I know you were only doing what you considered your best course of action, as you always do." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "I do not know what the Council will try to do to you."

"I do not care. I will not apologize for my actions."

"I would not expect you too." He gave her a serious look. "The Council is still concerned, only because of the destruction she wrought as a Sith, but there is always room for personal conviction in the Order. If you are convinced that Revan was correct —"

"I am. I have seen everything she has."

"—then it is your own decision, and your conviction will be taken into account. I will do what I can."

"I do not expect you to," Bastila replied.

"You should not be blamed for Revan's own actions, and I will try to make the Council see that. Meanwhile, I think it is best if you stay in your quarters until we return to Coruscant. I have a feeling that the Victory Tour will be cut very short."

Bastila nodded. "I was not intending on leaving this room anyway, Master Zhar."

He sighed, patted her shoulder, and left. Bastila sank into the small room's chair, resting her face in her arms.

Anna had better be right, or she was going to kill her if she ever saw her again.

#

Carth dropped his bag on the floor, pain twisting his stomach as he looked around the apartment. It'd been two weeks since he'd been back, unable to stomach the thought of being there alone. His assigned quarters in headquarters had been more than sufficient as he threw himself at trying to track a ship that had apparently fallen completely off everyone's radar.

He wasn't going to sell this place, nor was he going to abandon it. If she came back she would come here looking for him, and he wouldn't let a stranger open this door.

A battered outer robe was still slung over a chair by the door, waiting for its owner to return, and everywhere he looked there was the smallest touch of her - a misplaced wrench here, a rogue datapad there, an abandoned mug on the coffee table. He dropped onto the sofa, resting his head in his hands.

Part of him wanted to turn on the holoscreen, just to have some noise filter through the apartment. But the other part of him knew what he would find — more talk about her,  _his_  Anna. Someone at the Temple - an unknown someone — had let it slip that the hero of the Jedi Civil War had been Revan, the woman who'd started it in the first place, the hero of the Mandalorian Wars and the Dark Lady of the Sith. They ignored the fact that everyone had previously believed Revan to be male and immediately the galaxy believed the reports, then exacerbated by the fact that Anna Kyjjl had disappeared during the Victory Tour in what was described as a self-imposed exile, fleeing with the Mandalorian that had worked with her.

And the things they were saying about that  _particular_  aspect made his blood run cold.

The Jedi were in full crisis management mode, attempting to calm the loudest demands to bring them in for treason and make people listen to the quieter comments about what the hell else they were supposed to do against an enemy with unlimited resources and power. The Jedi had stripped her of her position, declaring that she was no longer a Jedi, and the Republic had issued a warrant for her capture. Dead, or alive.

But it was his Anna they were talking about,  _his_. The woman he would have married, he would have spent his entire life with, that he would have died a thousand times for. They were blackening whatever name Anna Kyjjl had after the war with Revan, ignoring the fact that the woman had saved them twice and leaping to conclusions with no backing.

He loved her, and he'd felt empty since she'd left. It was all he could do to function and hope that maybe she'd be back in a few weeks, or a few months, or maybe a year. He could live on hope.

Needing to do something he reached in his bag and pulled out the datapad she'd left him, running his fingers over the surface before switching it on.

_Carth,_

_I'm doing you a disservice by leaving you like this, but if I woke you to tell you why I was leaving I never would. Some of my memories have begun to return, memories of dark places out beyond the Rim that I once walked, and I believe I remember what I'd intended to do as Revan. I need to find out if I'm right, Carth, because if I am then Exar Kun, the Mandalorians, the empire Malak and I tried to build would seem barely a concern. I have an idea of what I may find, and I would be afraid for the safety of anyone I bring with me. I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to you._

_I need you to stay here. If I'm right, I will only buy the Republic time, not stop the threat. You need to rebuild the Republic, Carth. Rebuild it so it's strong again. Because if I fail, there's no telling what will happen. It will be attacked again — perhaps in hundreds of years, perhaps in thousands. Perhaps in weeks or months. Keep them strong, Carth. Please._

_I don't know if I'll come back. Perhaps in a year, perhaps in twenty. Maybe never at all. And even if I do, I won't be the woman you remember. If you move on and I do wander back into your life one day, I will understand. I can't ask you to wait, or hold on for a dream. Please, Carth, let me go. Don't wait for a ghost._

_Goodbye, my love._

_Anna_

Carth sank back into the couch, closing his eyes as he rested his arm over his head. There was a chirp and he glanced out from under his sleeve, seeing X'lor sitting on his knees looking confused. He reached out and scratched behind the gizka's nubby ears.

"Looks like it's just you and me until your mom comes back," he said quietly. X'lor cooed and butted his head into Carth's hand, eyes closing in bliss. He looked up towards the ceiling. "Please come back."

 


	66. Epilogue

Days passed.

Days became months, and months became a Republic standard year.

On some planets, by the time it became two standard years, Anna had been gone nearly a lifetime. And for Carth, it may well have been. It wasn't easy being the one left behind, but if he couldn't find her then he found it far more simple to throw himself into rebuilding the galaxy for her. She'd told him to reconstruct the Republic and that was what he would do. He would have done anything for her and she must have known that when she left.

He dreamed about her every night, usually creating the life he'd once dreamed of them having together. It killed him but he wouldn't have traded those dreams for anything, wanting rather to see her than forget her. Besides, he would wait as long as necessary for her to come home, because he knew she would no matter what she said.

A few days into the third year of her disappearance, she was declared officially dead by the Republic and the Jedi. And then the Jedi fell silent.

Disturbingly silent.

Two months later he was on his fleet's flagship, the  _Sojourn_ , patrolling a sector near Belsavis when an underling approached him. "Admiral, urgent message coming in from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

He nodded and made his way to the terminal, as always wavering in anticipation. Had she come back? Had she been arrested? He'd thought that if she came back and learned about the warrant she'd just surrender peacefully — that was her, after all. Or at least the Anna he knew, unless she had regressed so far as to be Revan again, and in that case he was headed for the closest airlock.

He turned on his private holoterminal, surprised to see Bastila hovering into view. None of them — or at least neither he nor Mission — had seen her since Anna had left. The Jedi had essentially locked her from the galaxy during the unrest, likely for her culpability in Anna's disappearance. What magic she'd needed to pull to get to a terminal, he wasn't sure.

:: _Carth_ ,:: she said quickly. She looked — sick? Terrified? Both? She was breathing quickly, her hands tight in her robe. :: _Carth, I need your help._ ::

"What? Bastila, slow down. What's wrong?"

:: _Carth, the Jedi are dead. They are gone._ ::

"What?! What do you mean?"

:: _They are_ dead _, Carth. Some_ brilliant _Master had the idea to have a meeting and they're all dead._ ::

"How do — we haven't heard—"

:: _You will hear soon enough. Carth, every Jedi in the galaxy is being hunted. No one is safe. Not me . . . And not your son, either._ ::

"Dustil — he's not —"

:: _It doesn't matter. He has the Force. Jedi have been disappearing for months and now . . ._ :: She almost looked ready to cry.

"Bastila, just . . . calm down. Breathe. Just breathe. Are you safe at the Temple? Do you — do you know about Jolee or Juhani?"

:: _Jolee left weeks ago, he never said where he was going. Juhani disappeared last year. We're emptying the Temple, we're all splitting - the remaining Masters, the . . . It's too dangerous for Coruscant for us to be here. Whatever killed the Jedi could come for us here and the entire planet would be at risk._ ::

"Bastila, just . . . are you panicking?"

She glanced to the side. :: _No, we . . . Carth — Carth, I need your help. Everyone else has a place to go but no one wants to take the Jedi who let Revan get away, and if I knew where Jolee was then I would go to him but —_ ::

"You need to lay low. And you're asking me."

:: _I have the best chance if I am on a Republic ship. And I may be able to determine what it is hunting the Jedi before it destroys us all._ ::

Carth rubbed his forehead. "My superiors are going to have a heyday."

:: _I am sorry, Carth, but I . . . I did not know where else to go._ ::

"No, no, it's fine. I'll contact them and let them know that I'm taking on some personal passengers on Coruscant. We were on our way back anyway — I'll give you the code for the apartment, go there and lay low. And do me a favor."

:: _Anything._ ::

"Call Dustil and tell him what you told me. I want him to decide if he wants to lay low with us or if he thinks he'll be safe on his own. Get whatever you need to wait this out and be ready. I'll contact the apartment when we're in port and send a shuttle to get you."

:: _Carth, I . . ._ :: Bastila looked away, closing her eyes. :: _Carth, thank you. You have no reason to help me, after —_ ::

"Bastila, Anna deciding to leave wasn't your fault." He looked down at the floor. "I can't say I wasn't mad. And I can't say I still don't blame you a little. But it wasn't your fault. I just . . . I miss her."

:: _We all do, Carth. And we could use her now. But —_ ::

"Get to the apartment and get safe. I'll contact you when we're back."

:: _I will. Carth . . . thank you._ ::

#

Carth met the shuttle as soon as it was safe to enter the hangar after dismissing all of the hangar guards. Bastila hurried off the ramp, stopping just short of him. "Carth—"

"Don't start." He stepped forward and embraced her, letting her collapse against him. She looked exhausted. "We heard the news, on our way here. Everyone?"

"Essentially everyone." She stepped back, scrubbing an eye with her sleeve. She wasn't wearing robes, just a simple tunic and pants with her lightsaber sticking out of a small bag slung over her shoulder. "I gathered what I could from the Archives before Atris went through them. I will try to see what we are dealing with but I . . . I do not know if it will be enough."

"How many?"

"There were ten of us still at the Temple. Kavar, Atris, Vrook, three knights, two Padawans and myself. We don't know how many of the Jedi outside the Temple were there. There's no way to know. No one has yet contacted in but if they are laying low —"

"Then they would not." Carth nodded, and looked back up at the shuttle. "Dustil?"

Dustil stepped off the ramp, a weak smile on his face. "Hello, father."

"I'm glad to see you're all right."

"Yeah, Bastila . . . Bastila made a pretty strong case. I . . . I didn't want to risk —"

"No. Good. Right." Carth took a deep breath. "All right. There are civilian quarters on the lower deck. I'll walk you down there. No one knows who you are and I want to keep it that way. Especially if something's hunting you both. So . . . mostly free reign of the ship but just keep quiet, all right?"

"I think we will be fine," Bastila said. "Carth . . . thank you, again."

As soon as Carth returned to the bridge, he stood behind the navicomputer staring out into space and thinking. She was still out there somewhere. If she knew the Jedi were being destroyed, if she could feel it . . . then maybe she would come back to save them.

So he stared, and he waited.

For as long as necessary, he would wait.


End file.
